


White Noise

by Auber_Gine_Dreams



Series: Wonu is a Necromancer (White Noise Verse) [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, Blood, Blood Drinking, Broken Bones, Canon-Typical Violence, Concubine, Hospitals, Jihan is a side pairing, M/M, Magical Bond, Necromancy, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Strangers to Lovers, Supernatural Elements, The smallest amount of Vernkwan, Vampires, Werewolves, dark themes, implied breathplay, implied prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-08-27 09:47:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16700140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auber_Gine_Dreams/pseuds/Auber_Gine_Dreams
Summary: Wonwoo raises the dead for a living.One night, exhausted and overworked, he raises something else.Now, he has to navigate work drama, vampire politics, and new powers on top of helping the police solve a murder.This wasn't what he signed up for.-or-“What did you think I was going to say? ‘My name is Jeon Wonwoo and I don’t date vampires, I kill them?’”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Long story short, I love the Anita Blake series. Like....a lot. I've always wanted to make an AU for it, and I've finally done it!!
> 
> A few notes before we begin:
> 
> -You don't have to have read the books for this to make sense, but there will be a few easter eggs if you have ;)
> 
> -Most of the lore I'm using is from the series but I did tweak some things to fit my plot! The last book I read was Dead Ice so...things could be very different by now and I wouldn't know;;;;;
> 
> \- People who raise the dead are called animators. There are various other were-animals besides wolves and they are collectively known as lycanthropes. All supernatural creatures are known to the public.
> 
> -There will be violence, and this will get a bit dark so please heed the archive warnings.
> 
> -Tagged relationships are endgame <3
> 
> I do not own the Anita Blake Universe or Seventeen, but the plot is mine. Please do not repost anywhere.
> 
> Also a big thanks to Jess, who encouraged me by saying "I haven't heard of it but I love vampires" you're a real one
> 
> [White Noise has a playlist if you're into that sort of thing!!](https://open.spotify.com/user/dxfghibw2bty15xk9vwrsnyv8/playlist/0nHnQjN80h2JtogmtTQx9F?si=-wOzuJwgTlWD-_7ttYgbkQ)

 

Wonwoo sighed as he walked up the winding path of the graveyard. He was on 30 hours without sleep. It wasn’t good for him. He had a rule about it, and usually Vernon didn’t book him like this. Wonwoo had made an exception for this particular case though, so he didn’t have anyone to blame but himself.

Wonwoo got his dream job (well, the only job he really _could_ have) right out of college. Of course, his Bachelors in Literature hadn’t done much to help him in his career, but it did look nice on his resume. He was at his six month anniversary at Diamond Edge (affectionately called D.E.), and he’d built up quite a reputation in his short time with the company. Clients loved him because he could raise the dead without killing chickens. His boss loved him because he got to charge double and still save money.

Jeon Wonwoo, at twenty three, had made a name for himself without any help at all from his parents. It was a testament to his skill that he also worked closely with the Homicide Division. Last night he’d been helping solve a dispute in a will, and drug himself home at dawn to shower and head straight back to the office for consultations.

He made it to the grave just as the moon reached the top of the sky, full and shining.  Mingyu waved him down, bouncing in place with his usual boundless energy. Mingyu was his assistant, a year younger than him and filled with so much untapped psychic ability it was scary. Wonwoo liked Mingyu, he really did, but the boy was like a little kid, doing whatever he thought would make Wonwoo happy and then doubling it.

“How was last night?” Mingyu asked as he passed Wonwoo a silver knife.

Wonwoo sighed, still weary from lack of sleep.

“It was fine. Easy enough. The family had a meltdown about it though, which sucked, but the dead can only tell the truth.”

Mingyu smiled and nodded before reaching in his bag for the salt.

He got to work, sprinkling the salt in a perfect circle around the grave just as detectives made their way over to them.

“Good to see you Wonwoo, Mingyu. Thanks for coming on such short notice,” one of the detectives, a man named Seokmin, greeted them.

Wonwoo had worked with him before, which was a relief because he hated having to explain the rules every time new officers showed up.

“It’s no problem. I know you’re all eager to get this case solved. It seems like it’s been a media nightmare,” Wonwoo said as he put the knife to his palm and cut deeply. He walked around the circle, letting his blood mingle with the salt to form a sealed circle around the grave.

Seokmin nodded, a clipped agreement. He was careful to stand a few feet back and had the other officer do the same. Wonwoo turned to Mingyu, passing the knife back to him before he began.

“With my blood, I call you. Rise, Kim Younghee. Heed my call and rise from your grave.”

Wonwoo concentrated on the cool misty feeling of his power, let it sink down beneath his feet and into the grave below him. He could feel the girl down there, her body not old enough to be decayed. He poured his power into her and like the ground was water, her body rose up. She was only eighteen years old. Her murder had rocked the city, and police were desperate for anything that would put her killer behind bars.

The easiest solution was Wonwoo. He was the only animator at D.E. that could raise a murder victim from the dead without it ending in a rampage. The general opinion of animators was that murder victims were off limits. The trauma of their deaths made them bloodthirsty, and if they were brought back, they were like true zombies, hungry only for revenge. But Wonwoo was able to bind them tightly, focus their minds, and because of his work homicide had solved countless cold cases.

The girl looked around, shaking the dirt from her shiny black hair before looking at Wonwoo.

“Master.”

Wonwoo wished they wouldn’t call him that, but he couldn’t make them call him anything else. He’d been trying but none of them ever listened.

“Tell me your name.”

“Kim Younghee, Master.”

He smiled at her and spoke in a soft voice, “Younghee, do you remember what happened to you two weeks ago? Can you tell me about it?”

This was always the risky part. Sometimes, they didn’t remember they were dead. That usually led to a complete breakdown which wasn’t fun for him, or Mingyu, or anyone else. It was better when they remembered.

He could see the wounds on Younghee’s chest that weren’t covered by her funeral dress. She’d been stabbed twelve times and her killer had yet to be caught. The police had run out of leads. She’d moved to the city for college and had her whole life ahead of her. It was incredibly sad, and if Wonwoo had gotten more sleep he might have actually felt sorry about bringing her back to relive her horror.

“I-” She licked her lips, glancing down at her black dress before looking back to Wonwoo. “I got stabbed. Oh my god, I got _stabbed_. Did I die? I must have died…it hurt so much-”

Her breath hitched and she buried her face in her hands.

Wonwoo walked toward her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned toward him, and tears would have been streaming down her face if she could cry. Wonwoo was too tired to give her that much of his power, so she just got to look sad instead.

“I’m so sorry that this happened to you, Younghee. I know it’s hard, but I need you to tell me about it. We can still catch the person who did this to you with your help.”

Younghee wiped her face roughly and took a deep breath. She glanced around her, spotted the detectives standing back from the circle and Mingyu standing just at the edge.

“I’ll try, but my head is a little fuzzy. It’s hard to think clearly.”

Wonwoo sighed. He was afraid of that. He _really_ hadn’t used enough, and now he’d have to pay for it. He let go of Younghee’s shoulder and turned toward Mingyu, motioning for the knife.

“Are you sure about this Wonwoo? You really look exhausted,” Mingyu said, frowning as he held the knife close to his chest, “I can do it. I know I can.”

Wonwoo shook his head before Mingyu even finished his sentence.

“This isn’t the time to see if you’re ready Mingyu. I promise I’ll let you try next time but for this…I have to do this.”

Mingyu huffed but handed the knife over without any more objections. Wonwoo knew Younghee would hate this, but it was the only way to fix what needed fixed without starting all the way over, and he didn’t have the kind of mental energy for that. He walked back over to her and stuck the knife back against his palm, reopening the cut that had just clotted over. Fresh blood dripped into the dirt and he held his hand up to her.

“Younghee, as the one who brought you here, I command you to drink.”

Younghee looked at the blood pooling in his cupped palm with horror. If she had been alive, she would have probably slapped him or run away.

But he was an animator, and he had brought her here, and she had to listen to him.

She stepped forward haltingly, like she was fighting a compulsion.

“I’m sorry Younghee. I know you don’t want to, but this is the only way to help you remember. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

She looked like she might cry again, her bottom lip wobbling terribly, but she took a deep breath and allowed herself to walk forward. She took Wonwoo’s hand into both of hers, holding it like it was precious, before bringing it to her mouth. She took a few delicate sips like she was being careful not to make a mess. She drank until all the blood Wonwoo had gathered up was gone, then dropped his hand like it burned her. She looked upset, but her eyes were clearer.

“Younghee, can you tell me what happened to you now?”

She looked into his eyes, glanced back at Seokmin, who pulled his recorder and notepad out, and then she began.

“I went to a club with my friend. It was that new one, the one with the vampire owner. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a vampire that did this,” she said with a small smile, “they were all very nice. No, there was a guy. He wouldn’t leave me alone. It was so bad some of the vampires kicked him out.”

She took another breath and dug her nails into her palms.

“I guess he followed me. My friend and I live on different sides of campus so we separated after a while. I turned around and he was there. He just…he just attacked me. He didn’t say anything. He just…kept stabbing me.” Her eyes brimmed with tears and she looked down, like she couldn’t bear to see anyone’s reaction. “It hurt, god it hurt so much. I don’t remember how many times he stabbed me before I passed out…well…I guess before I died. It felt like a hundred.”

Wonwoo had to look away for a moment himself, and he met Mingyu’s eyes. His assistant was crying, silent tears streaming down his face. Empathy was one of Mingyu’s many psychic abilities so he was more sensitive than most to the emotions of the dead, but Wonwoo felt just as bad inside. It was a terrible tragedy that this girl died because some guy felt entitled to her. He turned back to Younghee, who was crying silently.

“I’m sorry Younghee. I’m so sorry this happened to you. Can you tell us what he looked like, or do you know his name?”

 “I don’t know his name, but he was wearing a football jacket. Red and black. It had the number 17 on it, and he had brown hair. I’m afraid that’s all I remember about him.”

Wonwoo glanced to Seokmin, who nodded to him somberly. They had what they came here for. He fixed his eyes back to Younghee and stepped forward to wipe her tears.

“You’ve helped us so much Younghee. Thank you. Would you like to rest now?”

She leaned into the touch of his hand and nodded. He could feel the stiffness of her skin under his palm. The dead weren’t alive, no matter how much power he poured into them. Cosmetically, he could make even the old ones look alive, but the closer a person got the more they could see it wasn’t quite right.

He smoothed his hand over her cheek once more before stepping back.

“Kim Younghee, as the one who woke you I release you. Go back to your resting place.”

The light left her eyes like a flame going out, all at once. Her body sunk back into the ground feet first, and once her head was covered Wonwoo felt his power leave her and dissipate to wherever it went when he was done. His teacher told him it went back into the universe to be recharged, but he didn’t really know for sure.

Once they were done, he walked the circle backwards and stepped over the salt line, Mingyu following in step. Seokmin came over to them, looking grim but pleased.

“You’ve been a huge help, Wonwoo. We’re heading to the university now. We’ll catch him for sure.”

Wonwoo smiled, but it was tired and didn’t make it to his eyes.

“I’m happy to help, Seokmin, but I’ve got to get home and sleep before I pass out. Mingyu’s going to have to follow me home.”

Seokmin laughed and clapped them both on the shoulder.

“Be safe getting home. I’ll see you next time.”

Wonwoo and Mingyu nodded in unison as Seokmin walked down the hill toward his squad car. It was only when the officers were all out of sight that Wonwoo let himself fall against Mingyu’s side.

Mingyu looked down at him before wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“You really overdid it tonight, Wonwoo. You’ve got to be more careful.”

Wonwoo groaned and let Mingyu carry most of his weight as they walked down toward the cars. He slid boneless into the driver’s seat, but before he could shut the door Mingyu’s hand darted out to grab it.

“Are you sure you can drive yourself? It’s really not a big deal for me to take you home.”

Wonwoo sighed and assessed his inner condition before replying.

“I can make it, but I wouldn’t be mad if you followed behind me just in case.”

Mingyu nodded and headed to his own car. Wonwoo shut his door and waited for Mingyu to turn his car on before following suit. The drive wasn’t far, maybe 15 miles, but he felt how dangerously close he was to falling asleep. He had to dig his nails into the cut on his palm to keep himself awake. Once he made it home, Mingyu honking his horn loudly as he drove past, he stumbled through his front door with barely enough energy to take out his contacts and slide out of his clothes. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

 

 

******

 

 

 

There were lots of things Wonwoo had learned to keep hidden over the years.

That he hated seafood.

That he’d been cut off by his parents for not studying medicine.

That he could raise the dead.

Wonwoo had always known he could do it. In the beginning, his parents tried to cover it up with believable excuses, like sleep walking or an overactive imagination. It was, in part, because they were both doctors. Everything in Wonwoo’s childhood was easily explained with big scientific terms and complex medical diagnoses and small orange pills and small blue pills and so many other things it made his head hurt thinking about them.

The first time Wonwoo brought something back to life was when he was eight years old. He’d been playing outside, running around the park when he looked down and saw a dead bird. It was a cardinal, bright red feathers dirty, wing stuck out the wrong way. It made him feel queasy.

And then he felt something else entirely.

It was like cool mist rising from deep in his chest, flowing up and out. He squatted down and held his hand above the bird. He felt the coolness seep out of him and watched as the bird’s wings straightened, watched him stand on his two feet and chirp pleasantly.

The bird was dead, but Wonwoo made it _live_.

It had lasted a few minutes at most before the bird shuddered and fell over again. It looked like it had all been a dream, just the work of a child’s overactive imagination. But the cardinal was a foot away from the pile of red feathers that had fallen off its body. It was the first and last time he ever told his parents about it.

It happened a few more times after that, never on purpose (never again), and usually when Wonwoo was stressed about school. He did his best to keep it from his parents. He couldn’t stomach any more pills or psychology appointments or disappointed murmurs.

It wasn’t until he started university that he felt truly free, in every sense of the word. He was introduced to a world and people that he’d been largely sheltered from, like his roommate Joshua, a boy from California who started the university’s first Human-Lycanthrope Coalition.

Joshua was a wereleopard, which was a blessing and a curse as far as roommates go. Joshua was polite and clean, but he nagged any time Wonwoo left a food container on the counter longer than a day. His sense of smell was so keen that he could detect some shift in scent that meant Wonwoo was stressed about exams, and he always did his best to calm him down and cheer him up.

The fact that Wonwoo didn’t have to explain when he woke up to three squirrels sleeping on his bed, dirt still clinging to their fur, was the biggest blessing by far. Joshua had just stared at him with wide eyes, before smiling softly and shaking his head. Wonwoo hadn’t known what to say, but Joshua was from LA and he’d seen at lot in such a progressive city.

“So, you can raise the dead?”

Wonwoo stared at him from his bed, the light of the moon dancing over his face. He didn’t know how Joshua could _know_ that. Wonwoo had never heard of anyone else in his entire life that could do what he did. The words rushed out before he could stop them.

“I-I’m so sorry, Joshua. This doesn’t usually happen I’ve just been stressed and there’s something wrong with me and sometimes this happens and I can’t stop it.” He couldn’t keep the weariness or the fear out of his voice, looking away so he didn’t have to see what was coming.

Joshua slid out of his covers and walked over to his side of the room. He sat on the edge of the bed, careful to avoid the squirrels, and laid his hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder.

“Raising the dead is a business in LA. There are a lot of animators out there who use their powers for all sorts of things.” Wonwoo moved over and let Joshua under the blankets with him. “Some people pay them to raise their loved ones to say goodbye. Sometimes they do it for historians so we can uncover more about the past. And some animators help solve crimes with their powers.”

Wonwoo felt his world shatter like glass, shards splintering around him. Every bad thing that he had ever thought about himself, every pill his parents made him swallow, what had it all been _for_? There were other people like him, other people who could raise the dead. He wasn’t crazy. There were more people who could do what he did.

Joshua put an arm around him and pulled him into his chest.

“There’s nothing wrong with you Wonwoo. You have a very special ability. It just sounds like you haven’t had anyone teach you how to control it.”

His head dropped heavily to Joshua’s shoulder.

“You know,” Joshua began again, stroking his hand absently through Wonwoo’s hair, “when I first got turned, I felt really alone. I didn’t know what to do or who to tell. Thankfully LA has a really active Lycanthrope Coalition. They welcomed me and taught me all the things I needed to know. I bet there’s a place just like that for you too.”

Wonwoo thought about it, tried to picture a meeting room full of men and women who could raise the dead. He wondered if they grew up like him, alone and unsure, or maybe their parents didn’t hide behind conservative beliefs and medical textbooks. It seemed like a dream.

“Can you…can you help me find them?” Wonwoo whispered as the squirrels on his bed shuddered and died again.

Joshua sighed and extracted himself from the bed. He picked up the squirrels, nose wrinkled in distaste, and set them gently into the bushes outside their open window. He walked toward their tiny bathroom, and as he clicked on the light he turned to face Wonwoo, his eyes glinting yellow gold.

“Of course I’ll help you. You’re my friend after all,” he said as he turned the water on, washing his hands under what was sure to be scalding water. “Plus I literally never want to wake up to the smell of dead squirrel ever again.”

 

 

*****

 

 

It was six in the evening when Wonwoo woke up in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright and panting into the darkness of his bedroom. He’d been asleep for fifteen hours. It left him groggy and disoriented, the dream about Joshua and the squirrels still fresh in his mind. He glanced around for his glasses and grabbed them off the bedside table. He slid them on and couldn’t hold back a gasp.

A man was leaning against his bedroom door, eyes open but somehow vacant. His skin was pale, but his clothes were clean. Wonwoo felt like if he reached out and touched him, the man would feel alive under his hands. He’d never seen anything like it, and as he got out of bed to move closer, the man’s eyes trained to him, blinking once.

He used his animator voice purely on instinct.

“Speak your name to me.”

“Choi Seungcheol, Master.”

Wonwoo blinked and took a deep breath. The name flitted through his mind, but in his sleep induced haze it meant nothing.

“Seungcheol, why are you here?”

The man looked at him, confusion clouding his features.

“You summoned me here, Master. I came because you called me.”

Wonwoo felt a chill run up and down his body, and he wrapped his arms around himself. He hadn’t had a slip like this since college (how ironic that he’d dreamed about it), and he’d never had a slip that involved a human before. It was unnerving to know his power had pulled this guy from his eternal rest just because he was overworked.

“Seungcheol, I’m sorry to have called you here. As the one who woke you I release you. Go back to your resting place.”

Wonwoo watched as the vacant look left the man’s face, and he waited for him to disappear back to his grave, wherever that was.

What he didn’t expect was for the vacant look to leave, and true consciousness to take over.

Seungcheol blinked like he was waking up from a dream. He shook his head and looked around, taking in his surroundings before his eyes landed on Wonwoo.

“What the fuck is this?”

Wonwoo felt the air squeeze out of his lungs and he crumpled to the floor.

Wonwoo’s teacher said magical power in the body was like a cup of water. It could only hold so much before it spilled out indiscriminately, covering anything and everything it could reach. When Wonwoo was younger, it spilled out into small animals, which was unpleasant, but certainly bearable. Now that he had training, spills weren’t supposed to happen. But if he was too tired or too stressed, the tight control he had over his power loosened, and the hand holding the metaphorical cup dropped it right to the floor.

As he hit the ground it clicked, and he stared at Seungcheol with barely masked horror.

Choi Seungcheol. Second in Command to the Master of the City. A vampire.

Wonwoo had, through some kind of insane magic, forced a vampire to heed his call. Seungcheol walked closer to him, anger giving way to confusion.

“Who are you, and what am I doing here?”

Wonwoo tried to remain calm, smoothing his face into what he hoped was blankness.

“I’m Jeon Wonwoo. I’m an animator, and I guess I called out to you in my sleep.”

It was Seungcheol’s turn to sink to the ground.

“An animator? Called out?” he mumbled to himself, his eyes flicking across the floor like he could read the answer there, “Wait. You…you _summoned_ me? You’re a necromancer?!”

Wonwoo’s eyes went wide and all the blood drained from his face.

Being an animator was, on the whole, an accepted thing in society. Humans and lycanthropes saw it like a magic trick, since the magic didn’t work on living things, and vampires tolerated it because they were alive enough that the magic skipped them too.

Being a necromancer was something else entirely. Necromancers were powerful, so powerful that they could use their magic on anything that had once been dead. Necromancers could raise entire cemeteries without batting an eye. They could control vampires.

Necromancers were dangerous.

Necromancers were killed on sight.

“I’m-I-” Wonwoo felt like he couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t a necromancer. Sure, he could do some arguably powerful things. He had a lot of natural talent for animating, but he wasn’t…he couldn’t be….

“I’m not a necromancer,” he finished, his voice cold.

Seungcheol looked at him with something like fear. “Then how the fuck did I get here?”

Wonwoo took a deep breath.

“When I overwork myself, I animate things in my sleep. It’s happened before, but not since college. I guess I really stretched myself thin the past few days.”

Seungcheol inched closer to him.

“The last thing I remember is going to sleep for the day, and now I’m here. Did you…did you _animate_ me while I was sleeping?”

Wonwoo didn’t want to tell him that was exactly what he must have done, but he knew vampires could pick up on the subtle signs of lying.

He looked away but nodded. “I’m not really sure, but that’s what it seems like.”

Seungcheol stared at him, close enough now that they could link hands if they wanted. When Wonwoo turned his head back to face the vampire he could see that he was pretty handsome, shiny black hair, warm eyes and full lips. He wondered how long Seungcheol had been a vampire, wondered if he’d done this because Seungcheol was too young or too old. He figured there was no harm in finding out.

“Seungcheol, I hope it’s not rude of me to ask, but how long have you been a vampire?”

He smiled and it was so stunning Wonwoo felt his face heat up.

“It’s not rude at all, Wonwoo. I’ve been a vampire for about twenty years now.”

Wonwoo couldn’t hide his surprise. Seungcheol was only twenty years a vampire and already Second in Command to the Master of the City. He was either awfully powerful or awfully ruthless.

“You must really be something,” he muttered before he could stop himself.

Seungcheol smirked. Shit. Wonwoo knew better than that. Vampires could hear things miles away if they really wanted to.

“If I wasn’t so freaked out I might let you see what kind of something I am,” he said, eyebrow cocked suggestively and Wonwoo’s cheeks burned all over again.

Was he this brazen because he was a vampire or was that just his personality? Wonwoo had never met someone like Choi Seungcheol and he wasn’t sure if he liked it. He cleared his throat and stood up, hoping to put this entire mess behind him so he could enjoy his night off curled up with a book.

“Anyway. Seungcheol, I’m really, really sorry about this. I’m sure you have a lot to do, so if you’re feeling alright you can leave whenever.”

He felt like he was being rude, but he was still groggy and the come down from the adrenaline earlier wasn’t helping. Seungcheol nodded and stood up from the floor. He led the vampire to his front door, unsure of what social responsibility he had in this crazy situation. He ran a hand through his hair.

“I can give you my card if you want? In case anything comes up?”

Seungcheol smirked again. “Am I allowed to call you just to chat or is this strictly professional?”

Wonwoo pushed his glasses up his nose to mask his flush.

“I mean…if you want to just talk that’s fine too.”

Wonwoo turned away from the door before Seungcheol could say anything back and grabbed a business card off his coffee table. He passed it over, and Seungcheol stuck it in his back pocket.

“Well, it was nice to meet you Wonwoo. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.” Seungcheol winked at him and opened the front door.

He made it half way down the hall before he crumpled to the ground.

“Shit,” Wonwoo whispered under his breath as he walked out to Seungcheol.

Seungcheol was a vampire. Theoretically nothing should be wrong with him. Vampires didn’t get sick and they definitely didn’t pass out in hallways. He bent down next to Seungcheol’s body, his hands hovering unsure above him. He felt something deep in his chest, in the same place he pulled his powers from. This wasn’t cool and misty like usual. Whatever was spreading out from his chest was warm, like a hot spring under his skin. He concentrated on the feeling, allowed his instincts to take over since his brain was at a loss.

The power flowed out over his hands and he placed them on Seungcheol’s chest, like he was giving him CPR. It poured into Seungcheol, and for a while nothing happened. Wonwoo panicked. Not only had he somehow animated a vampire, but he then managed to kill said vampire. Oh, and the vampire happened to be the second most powerful vampire in the city. He was officially living on borrowed time.

Seungcheol gasped beneath him, a hand coming up to clutch at his arms.

“Jesus Christ Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo took Seungcheol’s hand between both of his.

“Oh my god Seungcheol are you ok? What happened? What was that?”

Seungcheol’s breathing was still heavy as he stared into Wonwoo’s eyes.

“I…I don’t know. I don’t know what happened,” he said, sitting up in a rush. Wonwoo put an arm around him to steady him. “I should probably stay at your place for a while. I think we have some things we need to figure out.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get you inside alright?”

Wonwoo helped Seungcheol to his feet, struggling to carry the brunt of his weight. He managed to get them both inside his apartment, and he stopped only to lock the front door before letting Seungcheol slump onto his couch.

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Wonwoo wasn’t a vampire hunter. It was something several animators he worked with did, and something he was expected to learn after he’d been with the company for a year. Jihoon had the highest kill count at D.E. His efficient tracking and ruthless killing made him a popular choice for serving execution warrants.

Wonwoo had gone to the shooting range with Jihoon once just to see what it was all about, but the feeling of the gun in his hand made him queasy. Jihoon was the same age as Wonwoo, but the lives they’d lived were completely different. Wonwoo had grown up rich, sheltered but largely ignored by his parents unless they were trying to fix him. Jihoon’s parents were killed when he was young, and he’d spent his childhood bouncing around foster homes. He was on his own by sixteen. He met Vernon a few years later, and the two decided to start D.E.

Jihoon was good at killing. He could flip a switch inside, and it was like every bit of warmth left him in an instant. His eyes were hard and his face blank, and he aimed the gun like he’d been born with one in his hands. When Wonwoo went pale and clammy, he expected Jihoon to mock him, but he’d just sighed and taken the gun gently from his hands.

“We’ll try again some other time. It’s alright, Wonwoo. No one should be as good as me at killing,” he said, looking at Wonwoo with a weird kind of pride. “You know, the vampires even have a nickname for me: Woozi, the Executioner.”

Wonwoo tried to smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. He liked Jihoon, he really did, but they were very different people. He didn’t kill anything if he could help it, and Wonwoo hoped that his stellar client satisfaction rating would help him convince Vernon to let him skip the hunter training. One of the things he liked about being an animator was that he could, even if for a short time, bring life into something that had lost it.

There were a lot of ethical debates about vampires: their legal status as citizens, whether executing them was better than jail time, what exactly made them the way they were. What it all really boiled down to was this: do vampires have souls or do they not? Wonwoo didn’t really care either way. But now, a twenty year dead vampire that he had animated was sitting at the opposite end of his couch because he’d died when he tried to leave. All of the little things that made vampires tick suddenly seemed very, very important.

“I have to inform the Master about this,” Seungcheol said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, swiping over the front to make the call.

Wonwoo fell forward in a rush and captured Seungcheol’s hands between his own.

“Please, Seungcheol. Please don’t tell the Master of the City about this until we have time to figure it out ourselves.” He kept his head down, hands tightening on the vampire. “I…I think we can handle this without making it a big deal. I know someone who might be able to help. Let me speak to him first, and if that doesn’t work you can go to the Master.”

Wonwoo took a breath and looked up. Seungcheol was staring at him like he’d grown another head. But Wonwoo couldn’t get someone as powerful as the Master of the City involved in his life, especially if he was truly a necromancer.

Wonwoo kept his hands on Seungcheol while they stared at each other. A weird, warm feeling spread in pinpricks up his arms and into his chest. He wondered if Seungcheol felt it too, if vampires could feel something so subtle.

Seungcheol finally sighed and pulled out of Wonwoo’s grip.

“Fine. But if anything else even remotely weird happens I’m calling Junhui.”

Wonwoo wrung his hands together at the name. Wen Junhui, Master of the City. Wen Junhui, who had been in Korea since the Qing invasion of 1636, who had been ruling the vampires of the city the last 60 years. The preternatural community loved Junhui for his many progressive ideas, but they also didn’t question him without good reason.

He was someone Wonwoo never really wanted to meet, ever, in any capacity.

Wonwoo sighed. “Let’s go meet my friend and see if he can help us.”

 

 

******

 

The drive to Joshua’s apartment was quiet, filled with an uneasiness Wonwoo couldn’t put a name to. The radio was turned down low enough that whatever music played was reduced to occasional bass hits and murmurs. His mind was racing, and he hoped that Joshua would have some answers for them. Anything was better than informing the Master of the City that he might be a necromancer.

Seungcheol sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through his phone and typing out a few messages.

“Sorry. I’m letting my managers know that I’ll be away from work for a few days and that they’ll need to hold things down for me.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure running a business is a lot of work.”

Seungcheol hummed. “It’s actually pretty enjoyable. Starting White Noise might be the best idea I’ve ever had.”

Wonwoo let the more comfortable quiet settle the rest of the drive. Joshua lived in a little town house close to the center of the city. It was a too busy for Wonwoo, but Joshua liked being close to his job at the Coalition headquarters. The porch light was on, thankfully. Wonwoo parked and walked up the little path to the front door, Seungcheol following behind. He knocked twice, and Joshua opened the door before he could lower his hand.

“Wonwoo! It’s good to see you, but it’s not like you to drop by without calling.” Joshua wrapped him in a tight hug. Wonwoo could feel the moment he noticed Seungcheol, his arms tightening imperceptibly around him.

“Why is a vampire with you?” he whispered before letting him go.

“Joshua, this is Seungcheol, and we kind of need your help.”

Seungcheol seemed like he was in a trance, but blinked at the mention of his name and gave Joshua a smile and a little wave. Joshua smiled back, and it seemed that any apprehension he initially had was gone.

“I’ll do my best. Come on in.”

Joshua’s home was so much like him Wonwoo almost laughed every time he visited. Everything was orderly, clean almost to the point that it seemed uninhabited. It reminded him of their college dorm. Joshua walked into the kitchen, leaving the two alone for a moment.

“You didn’t tell me your friend was a lycanthrope,” Seungcheol murmured as he slipped off his shoes.

“Is that a problem?” Wonwoo asked, his voice coming out short and defensive. He didn’t think vampires would be prejudiced against lycanthropes like humans could be, but maybe he was wrong.

“It’s the exact opposite of a problem.”

Seungcheol’s smile was mischievous, and he looked very attractive, like he flipped a switch and became a different version of himself.

Once they were situated around the kitchen table, mugs of tea in front of the appropriate parties, Joshua spoke.

“So, what do you need my help with?”

Wonwoo sighed.

“There isn’t an easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it. I…animated Seungcheol’s body while I was sleeping, and then when he tried to leave he…might have died. Some weird power came out of me and went into him and then he came back and I don’t know what it was or how to fix it.”

Joshua froze, mug half way to his mouth, and his eyes flew over Wonwoo’s face like he was looking for answers.

“Wonwoo, you…you _animated_ a _vampire_?”

Wonwoo nodded and his shoulders slumped at the tone. Every time he heard it out loud it made him shudder. It wasn’t something he’d ever wanted to do or even thought was possible until he’d done it.

“Do you understand what this means? You could be a necromancer, Wonwoo. This is a dangerous situation,” he said, setting his mug down on the table with a hard clack. Wonwoo jumped at the sudden noise. “You could be killed for this. Even the humans would put out an execution warrant for you.”

Seungcheol shifted in his chair, and Joshua’s eyes honed in on him like a predator waiting to strike. Wonwoo almost felt bad. Joshua had always been protective of him, and he was sure the wereleopard blamed Seungcheol for their current problem in some way.

“We were hoping that you could help us so that we don’t have to involve anyone else,” Seungcheol said. He held Joshua’s gaze, his tone almost teasing despite the seriousness of the situation. “Wonwoo seems to think you might know something about this.”

Joshua sighed. “I’m a wereleopard, not a metaphysics expert. When I was visiting LA this summer I heard some stories about a necromancer. Apparently she was bound to dozens of vampires and lycanthropes and was doing quite well for herself.”

A door shut down the hall, and a handsome man padded into the kitchen. He had auburn hair still damp from the shower, a towel slung around his shoulders to keep the wetness off his shirt.

“I didn’t know you were expecting company,” he said, reaching in the cabinet for a cup. He poured tea like he lived here, and maybe he did. Joshua had always kept his private life quiet.

“It wasn’t a planned visit, but don’t worry. We’ll still make our reservation I’m sure,” Joshua said, looking at the man with soft eyes. Wonwoo couldn’t remember him ever looking at anyone like that. Love suited him, it seemed.

“Jeonghan?”

The man in question turned and gave Seungcheol a loaded smile.

“Choi Seungcheol. It’s been awhile. How’s the business world treating you?”

Seungcheol’s lopsided grin returned. “It’s been good. I might have a job for you if you’re interested. I think the owner might owe you a favor.”

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow, his bottom lip caught between his teeth before he stole a quick glance at Joshua.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m pretty busy with the Coalition these days. Tell the owner I’ll come to him when I need my favor repaid.”

Joshua watched the exchange quietly, his mouth pulled tight like he was thinking too hard. Finally, he turned his attention to Jeonghan and gestured to Wonwoo.

“Jeonghan, this is Wonwoo, my friend and college roommate. He’s an animator, and maybe a necromancer. Do you know anything that might help him with a metaphysical connection?”

Jeonghan took the seat across from Wonwoo and gave him a soft smile.

“Nice to meet you Wonwoo. I’m Yoon Jeonghan, second in command to the werewolf alpha, and Joshua’s favorite coworker. I overheard most of your dilemma, and it sounds to me like you and Seungcheol are bound to each other.”

Wonwoo’s mouth fell open. Bound? That sounded awfully…permanent.

“What do you mean bound?” Seungcheol asked, his tone unreadable.

“I’m afraid I’m not much of an expert on metaphysics either, but it sounds like some magic inside of Wonwoo has tied itself to Seungcheol. Most likely, your life forces are now bound together.”

Shit.

Wonwoo shut his mouth and let the information soak in. He was bound to Seungcheol. His life was bound to Seungcheol.

“So what does that mean?” Wonwoo asked, “Are Seungcheol and I going to have to stay within 50 feet of each other or he’ll die? Isn’t there some other way to maintain the connection?”

“Any type of bond has to be maintained. If energy leaves the connection, it can cut the other person off and bad things can happen,” Jeonghan said.

Wonwoo nodded. Okay. That made sense. It was like powering an electrical device. A constant supply was needed or it wouldn’t work.

“So is there a way to undo it?” Wonwoo asked quietly, eyes searching Jeonghan’s a little desperately.

“If there is, I’m afraid I don’t know it,” Jeonghan replied, and when Wonwoo looked at Joshua he shook his head.

“I don’t know anything either, but I can ask around if you want?”

“Thanks for the offer, but there’s one more person I’m going to check with. I’ll let you know if I find out anything,” Wonwoo sighed out, the reality of meeting the Master of the City settling on him like a weighted vest.

The conversation lulled for a bit, Wonwoo lost in his own thoughts and Seungcheol sending the two lycanthropes little glances when he thought Wonwoo wasn’t paying attention.

“How are things going with the Coalition?” Wonwoo asked, trying to distract his mind from spiraling.

Joshua’s face brightened. He really did love his work. Helping new lycanthropes and building stronger relationships between the community and humans. Those were the goals of the Coalition, and Joshua had done a lot of good for starting as a simple university organization.

 “We’ve made a lot of progress,” Joshua began, gripping his cup tightly, “but there’s still a long way to go. Believe it or not, lot of people still think lycanthropes can be shot on sight. Lawmakers still favor execution warrants instead of jail time, too.”

Wonwoo couldn’t keep the disgusted look off his face. He hated that Joshua had to deal with things like that every day. Animators were lucky that way. A blood test wouldn’t show that he could raise the dead, and if he didn’t talk about it people generally assumed he was ordinary. Lycanthropes didn’t have that luxury, and vampires didn’t either. Sometimes it made him feel like an outcast, not inhuman enough for the preternaturals, not human enough for humans.

“I can’t believe people still support such outdated ideas. It’s sickening.”

Joshua just sighed. “Every day gets a little better. Jeonghan’s a lawyer, so he’s really helped move things in the right direction.”

“Don’t give me all the credit, Shua. You’re the backbone of the entire movement. Without you, we’d still be in the dark ages,” Jeonghan chided, his hand finding Joshua’s and squeezing gently. 

The two exchanged a warm look and Wonwoo looked away. It was a little too mushy for him.

“Well, thanks for your help, but I have an early consult tomorrow and I don’t want to keep you two from whatever you had planned before I showed up.”

Wonwoo moved to stand and Seungcheol followed suit. Jeonghan gave them both a little wave, and Joshua wrapped Wonwoo in another tight hug before seeing them out.

“Please let me know if you find out anything,” Joshua called as the two made their way to his car.

Wonwoo gave a little salute and Joshua laughed before he shut the door.

 

 

******

 

 

“Seungcheol, how old were you when you were turned?” Wonwoo asked softly, the darkness in the car making everything seem more intimate. He’d decided that since he was stuck with Seungcheol for a while longer, he might as well put effort into getting to know him.

“I had just turned twenty four.”

Wonwoo’s smile was smug. “So you’re older than me.”

Seungcheol snorted. “I’d be older than you either way. That was twenty years ago, you know.”

Wonwoo’s smile turned pointed. “Whatever old man. So I guess we have to go see the Master tomorrow night.”

Seungcheol hummed in agreement. “If anyone has answers, it’ll be Junhui. There isn’t much he hasn’t seen in his life.”

“Do you think he can really fix this or will he just kill me and get it over with?”

Seungcheol reached across the armrest and put a hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder, squeezing a little.

“The Master doesn’t kill without a reason, Wonwoo. I think it will go better than you think.”

Wonwoo spent the rest of the drive thinking about Wen Junhui. Would he kill Wonwoo quickly or was he was the type to draw it out? He shuddered, hoping that the vampire was as good as Seungcheol said, that he wouldn’t just kill Wonwoo the minute he heard the word necromancer.

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

Wonwoo sighed and flipped the blankets off his body. He hadn’t slept more than two hours after getting home from Joshua’s house, most of the night spent tossing and turning. Seungcheol being in his living room, quiet but still _there_ , certainly didn’t help matters. What had happened between them? Was there any way to undo the connection that his power had created? After speaking to Joshua and Jeonghan he had more questions than ever, and to make matters worse he had a consult at 9.

He shuffled out to the kitchen to start some coffee and almost jumped out of his skin when he turned around and Seungcheol was suddenly there.

“ _Jesus Christ_ ,” he gasped out as he took his coffee and sat at the kitchen table.

Seungcheol smiled apologetically and sat in the chair across from him.

The sun would be up in a half hour, so Wonwoo needed a plan and he needed one fast. He leveled his gaze at Seungcheol as he sipped his coffee, wincing when he burned his mouth.

“I have to go to the office today. Do you think you’ll be alright if you stay here?”

Seungcheol let his eyes roam Wonwoo’s bare torso before landing back on his face. Shit. Wonwoo was too used to living alone, but he refused to let Seungcheol rattle him in his own home.

“I guess if we take the lovely wolf’s advice it will go just fine. As long as you keep the connection between us open and concentrate some of your power there, I won’t die for real when you leave.”

Wonwoo smirked a little before he could stop himself. Seungcheol really _was_ shameless, or maybe insatiable was the better word.

“I’ll make sure I don’t forget about you today, and when I get done with work we can go see the Master.”

“I like that someone so pretty will be thinking about me all day long.”

Wonwoo almost groaned out loud. Shameless. He finished his coffee as fast as he could and headed back to his bedroom to shower and change. While he was washing his hair he closed his eyes and concentrated on the warm connection, wrapping a bit of his cool power around it. He wondered if Seungcheol could feel it, if he could sense any change at all. He’d have to ask about it later.

It was only as he tugged on his shoes in the doorway that Seungcheol made his presence known again. He’d changed into some of Wonwoo’s pajamas, and even though he hadn’t asked he couldn’t find the will to be mad. He kind of looked good. Wonwoo’s shirt was a little tight on him, and it hugged him nicely.

“Is any room light tight here?”

Wonwoo cocked his head. Seungcheol looked at him with only mild concern, as if being burnt alive by the sun was something out of a myth instead of reality. Wonwoo’s apartment was small and he’d never had to think about keeping the light out before.

“Yeah. My closet is a walk in and it doesn’t have any windows.”

Seungcheol’s mouth fell open.

“You’re serious? I have to sleep in your _closet_?”

Wonwoo smiled ruefully. He could only feel so much on so little sleep, and pity was just not on the list.

“It’s all I have unless you want to take your chances with curtains.”

Seungcheol sighed and ran a hand carelessly through his hair.

“No. I’ll take the closet,” he said, flashing Wonwoo a wicked smile, “but now that you have a vampire tied to you you’ll have to make some adjustments.”

Wonwoo had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“After we see the Master it won’t matter anymore. He’ll get this whole thing taken care of and you can go back to wherever you live and I can get my life back to normal.”

He saw Seungcheol’s hurt expression out of the corner of his eye before he shut the front door. Wonwoo sighed. They barely knew each other, and of course he wanted to get back to normalcy. That didn’t mean he didn’t like Seungcheol, just that he’d rather not be tied to him for the foreseeable future. A weird ache filled his chest and he did his best to ignore it. He had enough to worry about without feelings complicating his day.

 

 

******

 

Working as an animator was surprisingly similar to working in sales. Customer service was a key element to keeping clients, and one bad review could ruin your career. Wonwoo was generally introverted. He didn’t go out much and he only had a few close friends. But he loved his job, and he was friendly despite his shyness. After a few weeks, talking to clients got easier and easier, and after six months he was a pro.

When he got to the office, Seungkwan greeted him cheerily. He was the secretary at D.E. and handled all the appointments. He was also the nicest, funniest person Wonwoo had ever met.

“How’s it going today Seungkwan?” Wonwoo asked as he approached the desk.

Seungkwan smiled but it looked a little pained.

“Fine, Wonwoo, just fine. You won’t like this, but your 9am has insisted on a phone only consultation.”

Wonwoo frowned. He wasn’t comfortable taking clients that wouldn’t meet him face to face. Something about people hiding behind a phone made him uneasy. If he couldn’t see their face, he couldn’t be sure they were animating someone with good intentions. The company had screenings, of course, but anyone could lie on a form. Vernon knew that he didn’t like this, and just as he opened his mouth to voice that very thought, Seungkwan held up a hand.

“I know that you don’t do this, but Vernon personally gave the okay. If you’re pissed please take it out on him. Someone needs to knock some sense into that man,” Seungkwan added as he turned to his computer, fingers flying over the keys as he continued to murmur quietly, “All he can see is dollars and cents. I swear he’s going to regret it one of these days.”

Wonwoo sighed and headed down the hall to his office.

It wasn’t anything fancy, just a room with a desk and two chairs for clients. He had a small bookshelf off to the side with a few classics and some books on modern magic. Vernon said the magic books would make his clients feel like he took his job seriously, but Wonwoo just thought it made him look like a try hard. Once he sat down he closed his eyes and let himself relax for a moment. He focused on the warm thread between him and Seungcheol, making sure it was still just as it was before he left his apartment. Keeping it maintained from such a distance was already taking a toll on him and he knew it was going to be a tiring day, phone consult aside. God, he really needed to talk to Vernon about that before the day was over.

He must have dozed off because he startled awake at the sound of his phone ringing. He blinked at the clock before realizing it was his consult. He took a breath and answered.

“Thank you for calling Diamond Edge. This is Wonwoo speaking. How may I assist you today?”

God he hated phone calls. Everything seemed so forced.

_‘You’re Jeon Wonwoo, the animator?’_

Wonwoo nodded before realizing that was pointless, and he answered aloud.

“Yes, that’s me. What can I do for you? I’m sorry, I’m afraid I wasn’t given your name.”

_‘Your boss said I didn’t have to tell you my name. I’d be more comfortable if we kept everything as anonymous as possible.’_

Wonwoo felt a chill run up his spine. Vernon knew he didn’t like phone consults, and Vernon _definitely_ knew he didn’t take anonymous clients. Everything felt wrong, like it was snowing in July. Shit.

“Right, my apologies. So I’m guessing that you want me to animate someone for you?”

_‘Yes. That’s right. I need you to bring someone back for me tomorrow night at the graveyard outside the city.’_

Wonwoo felt a pinprick of warmth in his chest and a bit of his tension eased out of him. Maybe he was imagining it, or maybe he was wishing for it, but the comforting warmth felt a lot like Seungcheol.

“That’s quite short notice, but I don’t have anything on my schedule so I should be able to do it. I’ll need a little more information about the person you want me to bring back, like how long they’ve been dead and their name, so I can prepare myself and my assistant accordingly.”

_‘The corpse is less than a year old, and I’d prefer if your assistant didn’t come. I’d like it to be just you. Your boss told me you could raise it without help.’_

Wonwoo was going to kill Vernon. Every single thing that he’d ever said he didn’t want to do was being ticked off the list with this client. He wondered how much money the man on the phone offered him. Probably triple his going rate.

“I can. I just prefer my assistant to be there in case anything happens. Sometimes magic does strange things and I like to be prepared.”

_‘Just you. I’ll tell you everything you need to know when you get there.’_

Wonwoo put a hand in his hair, pulling it a little in frustration. He could just say no, but if this guy had really offered the kind of money Wonwoo knew he did, Vernon wouldn’t let him get away with it. He didn’t have a choice, and Vernon might as well have just told him to show up with as good as this conversation had done.

“Alright, I’ll be there. But if anything seems strange I’m stopping immediately. No questions asked.”

_‘That’s fine. I’m looking forward to working with you, Jeon Wonwoo.’_

“Thank you for your business. I’ll see you soon. Let me transfer you out to Seungkwan. He’ll get the paperwork sorted out for you.”

Wonwoo hit the necessary buttons on his phone before he hung up and took a few deep breaths. Being angry wasn’t productive. Part of the appeal of D.E. was that they all had rules. It was something Jihoon had seen to when the company was first founded. Vernon wasn’t an animator (so it was only fair) but he made them trade something for it. Jihoon, for example, wouldn’t bring back children for any reason, and in return he took the brunt of the vampire executions. He was good at it too, so no one really complained.

Wonwoo’s requests were very simple. No anonymous clients. No hate groups. And in return Wonwoo worked with the homicide division.

He stood quickly and walked straight into Vernon’s office without bothering to knock. Vernon was on the phone, but when he saw the look on Wonwoo’s face he frowned.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back in a bit.”

Vernon hung up and flashed Wonwoo his blinding professional smile.

“Wonwoo! What can I do for you?”

Wonwoo hadn’t been this angry since he’d told his parents he wasn’t studying medicine and they’d sent him a letter from the family lawyer that he’d been struck from the registry.

“What could that man have possibly offered you to make you disregard every single one of my rules?” he asked, keeping his voice as level as he could.

Vernon’s eyebrows pulled down in confusion.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He just asked for a phone consult, even offered to pay double since it made you so uncomfortable.”

Wonwoo took a shaky breath, held it for five counts, and breathed out.

“Fine, whatever, Vernon. I’m leaving early today.”

Vernon held up his hands like he was placating a wild animal.

“No problem, man, whatever you need.”

Wonwoo wasn’t good at confrontation and his anger left him just as fast as it had come. He sighed and turned to leave before Vernon called out to him again. “I don’t know if Seungkwan told you, but that detective is supposed to call you around 1. Something about the last case you helped with.”

He didn’t reply as he shut the office door behind him.

 

 

******

 

 

Wonwoo couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten. It was probably over a day ago. He’d been too busy to think much about it. His teacher had told him that the body needed to be maintained in order for his power to remain controlled. If he didn’t sleep and didn’t eat, then he was more likely to slip. It was part of why he’d struggled so much in high school and the first part of college. He usually took much better care of himself, but between Seungcheol and Younghee, he’d really slacked off.

 He ordered from the take-out place next door, and by the time the delivery man set the food on his desk he almost fell over. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he’d eaten everything and was still starving. He’d have to stop somewhere on the way home too.

He briefly wondered how long it had been since Seungcheol had eaten. Vampires could live without food, but the longer they went the more crazed they became. Wonwoo had learned in an elective class that locking vampires in silver chained coffins for decades was a popular torture technique of the late Middle Ages. Some of the deaths attributed to the plague were later discovered to be from crazed vampires.

He’d ask Seungcheol about food when he made it home. He definitely didn’t need a starving vampire added to the list of things he had to deal with.

His phone rang precisely at 1. Just like Seokmin to be punctual.

“Thank you for calling Diamond Edge. This is Wonwoo speaking.”

_‘Wonwoo, it’s Seokmin. I wanted to update you on the Kim case.’_

Wonwoo sighed away from the phone. Seokmin always played by the no news is good news motto, so the fact that he was calling wasn’t a good sign.

“What’s happened?” he asked, cutting right to the point.

_‘We’ve combed the entire university. No one has seen any guy wearing a black and red jacket. And when we checked with the athletics department, they told us not a single player across any sport is currently wearing the number 17. Some sort of superstition I guess.’_

 “So you’re back to square one then.” Wonwoo tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He still wasn’t used to this part of working with the police. Sometimes, cases were just unsolved. Younghee’s case would be a month old before long, and if nothing happened soon it would be filed in that cabinet in the back of Seokmin’s office with the other cold cases. She would still be dead, and even though Wonwoo had done everything he could, her killer would still be free.

_‘I’m afraid we’re out of leads. If we can’t find any information on this guy Younghee said she saw, there’s nothing else we can do.’_

Wonwoo sat up straight in his chair, realization dawning on him.

“Seokmin, I might have a way to get more information, but I can’t give you the details. I need you to trust me, just this once.”

He could hear Seokmin’s frown over the phone. Seokmin was as straight-laced as officers came. Despite his joking nature he took his work very seriously, always crossing his T’s and dotting his I’s.

_‘I’m only saying yes because you’ve never given me a reason not to trust you. Just be careful, Wonwoo, and don’t do anything stupid.’_

Wonwoo put his hand over his eyes, rubbing his temples gently.

“I won’t Seokmin. I’ll let you know if I’m able to find out anything.”

Seokmin gave his farewells and hung up. Wonwoo put his head on his desk, feeling completely exhausted. Maintaining his connection to Seungcheol made him feel like he was split in half but trying to do double the work. He needed to go home.

He raised his head at the sound of a knock on his door. Seungkwan walked over to him with a mug in his hand.

“You look like you’re getting sick, Wonwoo,” he said as he set the cup on his desk.

Wonwoo smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“This case is getting to me a little. I’ll never forgive myself if we can’t catch the man who did this to Younghee.”

Seungkwan rubbed his shoulder affectionately. He downed the coffee as fast as he could without scalding his mouth.

“Listen, I’m clearing your schedule tomorrow. I can pass your consult to Jihoon. He can handle what they’re asking for. You need to be rested for whatever that man wants you to do,” Seungkwan said, leaning forward to whisper the rest in his ear, “Who knows if he meant what he said. He could end up asking you to raise triplets or something.”

Wonwoo couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him. Seungkwan wasn’t an animator either, but he handled every aspect of their work with such ease Wonwoo was sure he had some sort of psychic ability.

“I might have to get a goat for triplets, and if he asked for me it’s because he doesn’t want any animal sacrifice.”

Seungkwan stepped back with one more pat to his shoulder.

“In either case, you’re not coming back to work until you meet with him. I’ll handle Vernon so make sure to rest up.”

Wonwoo smiled as Seungkwan moved to the door.

“Vernon doesn’t deserve you Seungkwan. You’re too good to be working here.”

Seungkwan flushed and his mouth hung open before he righted himself, smoothing his face back to professional cheeriness.

“If you need anything else before you leave just come to my desk.”

He shut the door quickly behind him, and Wonwoo got the strangest feeling that he missed something.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Subtle Vernkwan?! In MY fic?!?! It's more likely than you think ;)
> 
> Things are moving right along and I hope you're enjoying it so far! There's a lot more to come!!


	4. Chapter 4

 

Wonwoo had always been a vivid dreamer. It was part of why his parents didn’t take him seriously as a child. His dreams were hyper-realistic at times. Once, he’d dreamed that his parents took him on a trip to New York, and he’d sat at the breakfast table and described Times Square in perfect detail. Wonwoo’s parents were both too busy with their practice. He had never been on a family trip in his entire life and he’d never left the town where he was born, not until college.

He dreamed about Seungcheol, in ripped jeans and flannel, hair bleached to a white blonde, standing half way down a dark alley. He had a bag on his back, and his face was cut and purpled with bruises like he’d been in a fight. He heard a man’s voice, like a whisper, ask Seungcheol what he’d give up for power.

“There’s nothing for me to give up. I don’t have anything left.”

 _I can help you_.

It was like the voice was in Seungcheol’s head, but Wonwoo could hear it clearly.

Seungcheol looked down the dark alleyway and stared into the blackness all around him.

Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around Seungcheol and pulled him backwards. The man appeared out of nowhere, lifting Seungcheol like he weighed nothing. He didn’t struggle, just sagged into the man’s hold, like he didn’t have any fight in him.

_I’ll help you, but it comes with a price._

Wonwoo gasped and sat up with a start, sweat making his shirt cling to his back. He didn’t remember the drive home or getting into his bed. He must have been asleep for a few hours, which was good because he’d been losing too much sleep lately. His heard the click of his closet door and Seungcheol walked out of his closet, finally awake for the night.

“What a strange dream,” Seungcheol mused quietly, stretching. He stopped when he saw Wonwoo in his bed, covers thrown every which way. “I didn’t know you’d be home already.”

“I had a weird dream too,” Wonwoo said softly, “Seungcheol, this is probably a strange question, but have you ever had blonde hair?”

Seungcheol blinked at him and his eyebrows pulled down in confusion.

“Yeah, a long time ago. Before I was turned.”

Wonwoo hummed, a noncommittal noise, and headed to the kitchen to make coffee. He was in for another long night, and even with proper sleep he wouldn’t be able to stay up forever. He needed to be alert for his imminent meeting with the Master.

“Did you dream about me or something? Is that why you asked?” Seungcheol asked, voice growing louder as he approached. He flopped down onto the couch, his head leaned back against the cushions.

“I…might have. It was strange. I don’t know where the idea could have come from.”

Wonwoo sat at the kitchen table in the chair closest to the couch so he didn’t have to continue their conversation at a yell.

“I think you were in my dream too. You were a little kid, very cute. There was a red bird,” Seungcheol started, and Wonwoo whipped his head to stare as he continued, “and then a woman slapped you, and then there was a big beige sofa, like the kind in a doctor’s office. It didn’t make a lot of sense. It was just flashes.”

Seungcheol had dreamed something real, something from his past. Wonwoo had never told anyone about the cardinal, or about his mother hitting him. Not even Joshua knew about it. He wondered if his dream about Seungcheol was a memory too, from before he’d become a vampire.

“That’s really weird. I wonder where it came from,” Wonwoo said softly. He didn’t want to think about it, about what could be happening between them. Was this because of their connection? He hoped that the Master of the City would be able to fix the mess they’d ended up in. He couldn’t bear the thought of Seungcheol seeing anything else about him.

“Listen, can I borrow your shower? And maybe some clothes? I can’t meet the Master like this,” Seungcheol said, gesturing to the pajamas he’d borrowed from Wonwoo and making a little face.

Wonwoo nodded. “Towels are in my closet. You can wear whatever fits I guess.”

Seungcheol stood up and stretched again. A sliver of his stomach peeked out from under his shirt, and he looked in spite of himself. Of course Seungcheol would look like _that_. He almost groaned out loud.

“One more thing. Before we see the Master I need to swing by White Noise. I don’t have to work or anything, but I do want to make sure things are running smoothly.”

“Yeah, I don’t mind. I’ve actually been meaning to go there.”

Seungcheol’s eyebrows darted up. “Oh really? Just want to see what the vampire night club is all about, or were you planning to pick up someone there?”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. Seungcheol didn’t need to know he was planning to dig around for information on Younghee’s killer.

“No. I’m not trying to meet anyone. I’m just…curious.”

“Well, I will make sure to satisfy your every curiosity, Jeon Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes as Seungcheol walked down the hall to the bathroom.

 

 

 

******

 

 

 

It wasn’t until they were driving to the club that Wonwoo’s mind went back to his dream.

“Seungcheol, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

He gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter. “The person that made you a vampire, where are they now?”

It was quiet for a moment, and Wonwoo wondered if he wasn’t supposed to ask. Maybe he didn’t want to know the answer.

“The man who made me is dead. I killed him.”

Oh.

“Was he bad? Did he do something to justify it?”

Seungcheol sighed. “There are worse makers I’m sure, but he was involved in drug trafficking. I got out when I met the Master, and to prove my loyalty to him I was asked to kill my maker.”

The more that Wonwoo learned about the Master of the City, the more worried he became about meeting him. He let silence settle between them the rest of the drive, Seungcheol only speaking to tell him where to park. Once they stepped out of the car, Seungcheol pulled him by the wrist toward the front of the club.

“I don’t usually come in through the front, but I want you to get the full experience. I promise this won’t take long.”

Wonwoo gazed at the neon sign fading from pink to purple to blue.

“Nice color choice,” he said quietly before smacking a hand over his mouth. When would he remember that vampires can hear everything?

Seungcheol turned back to him and smirked. “Glad you think so. Let’s go in.”

Wonwoo shrugged and let Seungcheol lead the way.

The inside of White Noise was much different than he expected. He thought it was going to be a night club in the traditional sense: pulsing bass and bodies writhing in the dark. It was more like a bar, dimly lit with tables all around, a stage at the back and a room off to the side with flashing lights.

“It’s not really a club, is it?” Wonwoo asked, only having to raise his voice a little to be heard. Seungcheol turned back to him with a smirk.

“It’s the kind of place that has everything you want. That’s the charm.”

He followed Seungcheol to a high backed booth close to the stage. A man with bright red hair was sitting there, and as they approached he grinned.

“You’ve been playing hooky so you could get some? You know, other managers wouldn’t put up with this,” the man said as they slid in the booth opposite him.

“Soonyoung, this is Wonwoo. Wonwoo, this is Soonyoung. He’s the manager of White Noise and he does dance performances on Friday nights.”

Wonwoo nodded in greeting. Seungcheol didn’t tell Soonyoung they weren’t together that way, and it didn’t make him as mad as it should have. Soonyoung’s smile took up most of his face.

“Nice to meet you Wonwoo. I hope Seungcheol hasn’t convinced you that all vampires are boring. _Some_ of us know how to have a good time.”

Wonwoo wanted to hit his head against the table. Were all vampires so insufferable?

Soonyoung looked to Seungcheol, his eyebrows pulled down.  “How long has it been since you’ve fed? You look like shit.”

Seungcheol glanced at Wonwoo a little guiltily and sighed. “A few days. I should probably take care of that before we meet with the Master.”

“You’re taking him to the Master? Is it that serious?” Soonyoung asked, his voice rising in concern. Wonwoo couldn’t tell if he was being genuine, and it kind of frustrated him. What a strange man.

Seungcheol nodded. “I just need him to give me some advice, that’s all. And Wonwoo is involved in the problem, so I think it would be better if he went along too.”

Soonyoung nodded and his face was suddenly serious. “Go feed, Seungcheol. I’ll keep your friend company.” Soonyoung dodged when Seungcheol hit at his shoulder. “Okay I get it I’ll behave just _go_.”

“I’ll be right back. Soonyoung likes to play around, but he’s harmless I promise,” Seungcheol leaned close to murmur before he stood from the booth. Wonwoo nodded.

“Do what you need to do. I can take care of myself.”

When Seungcheol walked away, Wonwoo turned his attention to Soonyoung, who kept looking at him with amusement that didn’t reach his eyes. It was unsettling.

“Soonyoung, can I ask you something?”

He gestured with his hand in the air, and a moment later two drinks were set on the table.

“Let’s drink, and then we can talk.”

Wonwoo glanced at the glass warily. He wasn’t one to drink something offered to him by a stranger, and he wasn’t sure what alcohol would do to his connection to Seungcheol. (Would he get drunk if Wonwoo did?) He sighed. He needed answers, and if this was what it took to help catch the man who killed Younghee, he’d do it.

He raised the glass to his lip and knocked it back in one go, hiding a grimace behind his hand. Soonyoung’s grin was predatory.

“Ok. Let’s talk.” Wonwoo set the glass down with a clink against the wood. Soonyoung knocked his own drink back and nodded, his teeth faintly pink in the dim light. Of course a vampire club would have blood on tap. It made sense. “About a month ago, a girl who came here was murdered. She said that a guy in a black and red varsity jacket was harassing her and he got kicked out. Do you know anything about that?”

Soonyoung’s eyes wandered down his face to his neck. He could feel his heart pick up in his chest, and willed himself to calm down. Something about the way Soonyoung kept looking at him made him nervous, like he was moments away from being eaten.

“I remember that guy. A real dick, honestly. That girl just wanted to be left alone. Seungcheol personally hauled the kid out of here and made sure she was alright after. He offered to pay for a cab to get her and her friend home, but they said they would be alright,” Soonyoung said.

He sighed and looked at the table, back to being serious. Wonwoo felt dizzy from how quickly he switched between serious and weirdly sensual.

 “He was really upset when he found out she’d been killed. He let the cops comb the whole bar, security footage and everything, but it seems like they haven’t had much luck.”

Wonwoo sighed. He figured this was a grasp in the dark. Of course Seokmin had already asked around here. Why did Wonwoo think he would be privy to information just because he knew Seungcheol?

“I was hoping you might know something the cops don’t. Maybe something you can’t tell them.”

Soonyoung looked at him with wide eyes. So he did know something.

“Even if I did have information like that, what makes you think I’d tell you? Are you a cop or something?”

Wonwoo scoffed. “I’m an animator, not a cop. Raising the dead is my job, and it just doesn’t sit right with me when the dead can’t rest in peace.”

Soonyoung looked at him like he was seeing him for the first time.

“Wonwoo…Jeon Wonwoo. You help the cops with homicides,” Soonyoung said slowly, like he was putting the last piece into a puzzle, “Is that why Seungcheol is taking you to see Junhui? So we can have a man on the inside?”

Wonwoo didn’t know what to say. Seungcheol hadn’t told Soonyoung the truth, so he didn’t want to either. There must be a reason he didn’t want the other vampire to know. He didn’t want Soonyoung to think he was interested in spying on the police either, but he’d have to take the hit for now.

He shrugged. “Seungcheol didn’t tell me much about it. I guess I’ll find out when I get there.”

Soonyoung smirked. “Junhui is going to eat you alive, Wonwoo. I hope you’ve prepared yourself.”

Wonwoo suppressed a shudder. He’d been on edge since Seungcheol had first brought the meeting up. He didn’t need anyone else to tell him that meeting the Master would end in his untimely death. Soonyoung was about to say something else when Seungcheol came out from the back room. He’d changed into a black tee shirt that fit him like a glove. Wonwoo tried not to stare. He was still wearing the black jeans he’d gotten out of Wonwoo’s closet, and honestly, the black on black look was really doing him justice. He looked better too, less pale, more like a human.

Shit.

He almost slapped himself. He shouldn’t be thinking about this. He needed to focus.

Seungcheol met his eyes and he felt a flare of heat in his chest. He shivered, and Seungcheol looked away quickly, turning his attention to Soonyoung.

“What did you give him, Soonyoung?” he asked, voice laced with a threat.

Soonyoung held up his hands defensively. “A shot of bourbon and that’s it, I promise. I just wanted him to enjoy himself while you were enjoying yourself.”

Seungcheol sighed. “I guess I’m driving to Junhui’s then. Thanks for keeping the bar running Soonyoung. I owe you.”

Soonyoung grinned, eyes roaming over as much of Wonwoo as he could see.

“Bring your pretty friend to watch me dance sometime and I’ll call it even.”

Seungcheol tugged Wonwoo out of the booth, and he flushed when he swayed a little on his feet. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “You two are way prettier than me. Your magic makes you hot and it’s kind of not fair. My magic doesn’t do anything but raise the dead.”

Seungcheol snorted and Soonyoung laughed so loud several heads turned in their direction.

“Alright Mister Animator, let’s go. We have a meeting with the Master to attend.”

Wonwoo waved at Soonyoung who winked and called out, “My stage name is Hoshi. Don’t forget to come see me pretty boy.”

He let Seungcheol carry most of his weight (even though he wasn’t even tipsy _thank you very much_ ), and when Seungcheol slid him into the passenger seat he took the opportunity to close his eyes and catch a little more sleep before what could be called the most important meeting of his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jun is coming next chapter I'm beyond excited!!!!
> 
> Thank you guys soooooo much for your kudos, comments and cc questions!! I'm really so happy you're all enjoying the story so far!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my Anita fans keeping track, this whole fic came into being like this: "Wonwoo can be Anita obviously. Oh, Jun can be Jean Claude because he can use Anita's nickname but in Chinese" and my brain promptly short-circuited and here we are now.

 

Wonwoo didn’t know where he expected the Master of the City to live. Surely, someone as rich and powerful as Wen Junhui would have a mansion or some underground metropolis he called home. As it turned out, he lived in a high rise suite right in the center of the city.

Seungcheol pulled out a key card when they got into the lobby, heading to a special elevator off to the side and swiping it to grant them access. He punched the number for the top floor. They rode up in silence, and as the doors opened they headed down the hall to the left. Two men who were obviously body guards were stationed outside a set of double doors. Wonwoo felt like it was a bit much, what with the key for access thing, but he wasn’t an extremely powerful man, and none of his enemies would have supernatural speed and strength.

The men nodded at Seungcheol as they approached, not even questioning Wonwoo’s presence, and opened the doors to them through.

Wonwoo was a bit stunned as he entered Wen Junhui’s home. He expected everything to be decorated in an old style, given his age, but the suite was done in clean, modern black and white. There was almost no furniture, the kitchen barely a nook in the far corner. A small cook top, fridge and dishwasher with a single row of cabinets made up the whole thing.

“The Master is probably in his office. This way,” Seungcheol said, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the spacious hallway. He stopped at a closed door about half way down. He reached up a hand and knocked twice sharply. He must have heard an answer that Wonwoo couldn’t or he was important enough to open doors without prompting.

There, sitting in a plush leather chair behind a solid cherry desk, was the Master of the City.

Wonwoo had never seen Wen Junhui before. He only did written interviews when he dealt with the public, and for all his celebrity status he was largely unknown. Wonwoo understood immediately why. He’d be too famous if he showed himself to the public. He was expecting a middle aged military general, the kind seen in Joseon period dramas.

Wen Junhui was beautiful, the kind of beauty that came around once a generation. He had warm brown hair that hung just in his eyes. His face was like a model, angular but also soft, and he had a few freckles around his mouth. He was dressed in a simple white button down, a black suit jacket tossed carelessly over his desk. When he saw them enter he stood, and he might have been a bit taller than Wonwoo. 

“Seungcheol. What are you doing here?”

He even had a pretty voice. Wonwoo had to look at the ground to keep from openly staring.

Seungcheol bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry for my sudden visit, Master, but I’m afraid something has happened and I need your help.”

Junhui walked closer, close enough that Wonwoo could see the leather ties of his shoes, smell his expensive cologne. He glanced over to Seungcheol, who came out of his bow and looked straight into Junhui’s eyes. It was then, after staring at each other for a few heartbeats in silence, that Junhui turned to regard Wonwoo.

“And who is this? Your latest plaything?”

Wonwoo frowned in spite of himself. He wasn’t a plaything, not even close.

“My name is Jeon Wonwoo, sir. I’m an animator, and I’m here on business.”

Junhui’s eyebrows rose in surprise and he stepped closer. Wonwoo could feel his eyes on him, and he glanced briefly up before looking back to the vampire’s neck. He’d heard that really old vampires could put people in a trance with their eyes. He didn’t want to take that chance.

“An animator? It has been a long time since I have seen one of your kind,” he said, leaning closer to put his mouth near Wonwoo’s ear, “You are very pretty. You can call me Jun, _xiao yòu_. No need for you to be so formal.”

His breath came out shaky.

“Okay, Jun. Seungcheol and I need your help. Something….weird happened to us and now we are metaphysically connected.”

Jun stepped back enough to regard them both. He squinted a bit, like he’d be able to see the link between them. Seungcheol walked forward and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. He ran a hand through his hair before looking back to Jun.

“Master, I think Wonwoo animated my body while I was asleep for the day. I tried to leave after and I might have been dead until Wonwoo brought me back. Now we seem to be bound together in some way. I’ve been staying close to him since then so that I won’t truly die.”

Wonwoo watched Jun’s eyes widen before he realized where he was looking and glanced away. He was going to get himself killed. Jun took Wonwoo’s hand and pulled him forward, guiding him to sit in the chair next to Seungcheol. He moved to the other side of the desk, and folded his fingers in front of his mouth as he sat.

“So, you think that Wonwoo is a necromancer? Seungcheol, a necromancer has not been in this country in hundreds of years.”

Seungcheol was quiet. He looked down at his hands for a long time before eyeing Junhui.

“I was really dead, Junhui. He did something to me, and we were hoping that you could fix it.”

Jun drummed his fingers on top of the desk, lip caught between his teeth in concentration. Wonwoo felt himself grow more anxious by the minute. Jun was going to kill him, reach across the desk and rip his throat out. Necromancers weren’t allowed to live, not for long.

“Wonwoo, do you know how I became Master of the City?”

Wonwoo felt like he’d been slapped. Of all the things he expected the vampire to say, it wasn’t that. He took a deep breath and shook his head. He didn’t think anyone knew. It happened a long time ago, before vampires were considered news worthy. Vampires didn’t reach celebrity status until the late eighties.

“When I came here, the Qing Dynasty was invading Joseon. I was young and, to put it plainly, stupid. I thought I was brought to Joseon to start my life over. Sure, I would have to learn a new language and culture, but I felt hopeful.”

He smiled and it looked sad, sadder than anything Wonwoo had ever seen.

“What actually happened was war. I was brought to this country at twenty. I was given a set of daggers and told who to kill. I followed orders because I would be executed if I did not. The invasion only lasted a year, and just before my people got on their boats and horses I was taken outside a village and sold to the highest bidder. The man who bought me thought I was a good fighter and that I was pretty. He said he had a use for me, and I was taken away. For two years- the things that happened to me during those two years-” He glanced down for a moment like he could see the memories right in front of him. “Well, what happened is not important, but by the end of it I was a vampire.”

Jun looked straight into Wonwoo’s eyes and he saw something steely flicker there.

“For more years than I care to mention, I was a…well, in Mandarin I was called a _qie_. I fucked the Master and the men and women of his court. I killed when he asked me to. Eventually I became his Second in Command. He was the most ruthless man I have ever met, and one night he fucked me and I put a stake through his heart. I was able to cover it all up with the help of his new favorite _qie_. I blamed everything on the War, and together we took control of the city. At twenty I had learned that if I wanted to survive in this world, I would have to do whatever was necessary. It is a lesson I have lived by until now, and it has not failed me yet.”

Jun smiled so softly Wonwoo almost flushed. He was unbelievably beautiful, even when describing atrocities.

“I want you to work for me, _xiao yòu_. I believe that you are truly a necromancer and I want that power on my side. If you do not, I will inform your police, and your employer, and I will leak the story to the media. There will not be a single place for you to exist in safety. Please don’t make me do that to you.”

He felt his blood run cold. Necromancer. He looked at Seungcheol, who gave him pleading eyes. He really didn’t want to make an enemy of Jun, and honestly, working for the vampire didn’t seem like the worst thing. He hadn't even brought up killing him.

“Will you pay me?”

Jun’s smile widened. “Of course.”

Wonwoo sighed. “Fine. I’ll work for you, but are you going to fix the tie I have to Seungcheol?”

Jun laughed, and despite how cute it was it made him feel uneasy.

“ _Xiao yòu_ , this is a permanent tie. You and Seungcheol are connected by what humans call your souls, and if either of you die the other will surely follow.”

Permanent.

Shit.

Jun leaned over his desk and put a hand under his chin. “Seungcheol, leave us for a bit. There are some things I need to work out with my new favorite employee.”

Seungcheol blanched, his face panicked before he got a handle on himself. “You’re not going to hurt him, right?”

Jun huffed and waved a hand in front of his face.

“Of course not, Seungcheol. Do you really think I would put my Second in Command and biggest money maker in jeopardy?”

Seungcheol’s body relaxed and his lip quirked up, and Wonwoo was shocked at the sudden drop of formality.

“You’re right Jun. You’d be lost without me.”

He stood slowly, stretching a bit before walking toward the door. “I’ll be right outside, so if you _do_ get any ideas, it won’t take me a second to get back in here.”

 

 

***********

 

 

Once they were alone, Jun came around the desk and leaned his hip against it, his body turned toward Wonwoo. He gazed down at him with warm and curious eyes, and Wonwoo forgot he shouldn’t look, caught up completely in the beautiful man in front of him.

“Tell me, _xiao yòu_ , are you Seungcheol’s lover?”

“What gave you that idea?”

Jun’s smile was sly as he ran his hand along the edge of the desk.

“Your heart beats a little faster when you look at him. Your body betrays you, even if your mind does not agree. If you aren’t his lover now then you will be soon, I am sure of it.”

Wonwoo’s face burned. He stepped closer and knelt in front of him, their faces inches apart. Jun’s eyes searched his like he was looking for an answer, but Wonwoo had missed the question entirely. It went on for a long time until Jun reached his hand out to cup his cheek, stroking his thumb across his face gently.

He felt heat start to rise between them and it made his breathing speed up. He couldn’t stop staring at Jun’s mouth, the sight of him on his knees making something hot shoot through his abdomen. Tension filled his body like a cup and he leaned just a bit closer, until Jun’s lips were almost touching his.

“What do you want, Jeon Wonwoo? Are you even sure of what it is you are asking for? For all you know, I could be inside your head making you think you feel something that you do not. Or maybe what you are feeling is Seungcheol’s desire and not your own.”

Wonwoo blinked hard, trying to clear his mind. Jun had answered a question from earlier, and that gave him something to focus on. They _were_ able to pass feelings through the connection. Jun was definitely attractive. Wonwoo was sure it was him that thought so (Seungcheol had never spoken about Jun in _that_ way), and Jun certainly seemed interested in him too, which was a much better alternative to getting his throat torn out.

“I don’t…I’m not sure what I want, or what I’m feeling,” he finally breathed out, forcing his eyes back up to Jun’s warm ones.

“I don’t mind sharing you, _xiao yòu_. What about you? Do you want to kiss me?”

Wonwoo’s breath shuddered out and Jun’s eyes went dark. The vampire leaned closer, and every word he spoke made their lips just brush together.

“I want to, so very badly. But it will have to be another time. Next time I will kiss you and taste you and do anything you ask, but it will be because you want me to, because you beg me for it.”

He leaned back and stood up, and Wonwoo felt like all his air had been stolen out of his lungs. He couldn’t remember ever being this turned on from almost nothing.

A slim man slipped in through a door in the back of the room, and Jun turned to him, smiling before launching into quick Mandarin. Wonwoo took the opportunity to calm down, slow his breathing and regain his composure. After a few minutes Jun turned back to him, waving a hand flippantly.

“As much as I would love to keep talking with you, my lovely animator, I have business I must attend to. I am sure we will see each other very soon. Leave your card on my desk and I will have Minghao send the necessary paperwork to you.”

The guy who must have been Minghao gave him a little wave, and Wonwoo stood up and pulled a business card from his wallet.

When he finally clicked the door shut behind him, Seungcheol surged toward him, hands reaching out to run over his arms, across his shoulders, like he was checking him for injuries.

“He didn’t do anything to you, did he? I had a really weird feeling.”

Wonwoo took a deep breath and shook his head. Jun hadn’t done anything that Seungcheol needed to know about, at least not yet. He had a lot to think about, and as the adrenaline wore off he felt exhausted. He just wanted to go home and sleep. Seungcheol wrapped an arm around his shoulder and led him down the hall to the elevator.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT 3/19/19: A big thank you to commenter Alice and Q for giving me some better translations of Wonwoo's nickname! I have updated the chapter to reflect these changes and will be using this from now on.
> 
> The words I used are 小佑 (xiǎo yòu/xiǎo woo) which means little woo (the 佑 is from Wonwoo's name!) 妾(qiè) which means concubine.
> 
> Things are gonna start heating up next chapter! Please anticipate ;)


	6. Chapter 6

The drive back to Wonwoo’s apartment was quiet except for the nervous tapping of his fingers against the steering wheel. After ten minutes, Seungcheol turned the radio down and shifted in his seat to face him.

“You’ve been so wound up since we left Junhui’s place. What did he say to you? Does he want you to do something unsavory?”

Wonwoo sighed and forced his fingers to still on the wheel.

“No, he didn’t ask me to do anything, not yet. And he didn’t say anything to me. I’m just….thinking.”

“You can talk to me about anything you know. Your feelings are bouncing around in my head and it kind of sucks.”

Shit.

Everything about his connection to Seungcheol was frustrating. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Jun said. Since they’d been bound together, how much of what Wonwoo felt was really his own feelings, and how much of it was just echoes of what Seungcheol was feeling? The idea that he wasn’t himself, might never be himself again, was both annoying and terrifying.

Wonwoo wasn’t ready to say it all out loud, so instead he said the first thing his mind latched on to.

“Are you and Jun fucking?”

He could see Seungcheol’s mouth fall open in his periphery.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” he asked, exasperated as he turned to look out the window.

“You don’t have to answer. I don’t know why I asked that.”

“It’s fine. Junhui and I fucked around a long time ago, but we haven’t been interested in each other like that for years.”

Wonwoo nodded, fingers tapping against the wheel again.

“Does that…bother you?” Seungcheol asked quietly, and Wonwoo had never been more relieved to pull into his own parking lot.

He didn’t answer until they’d made it inside and were seated at opposite ends of the couch.

“It doesn’t bother me. I don’t care who you sleep with, I was just curious. Jun gave me a lot of things to think about, and I’m just trying to process it all.”

Seungcheol leaned his head back against the cushions, looking like he’d had a rough day at the office and was about to unwind with a beer. It was weirdly domestic, and Wonwoo wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“Did you ask because he wants to sleep with you?”

Wonwoo pinched the bridge of his nose, a pain starting in his temple.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“So he does want to sleep with you.”

Wonwoo put his face in his hands.

“Seungcheol, I just want my life to go back to normal. Is that really so much to ask? I want to be able to sleep without dreaming weird shit. I want to be able to relax on my days off and not have to worry every second about vampires and metaphysics and whether I’m still me or not.”

Seungcheol sighed and moved so his feet were tucked under him.

“I know that you hate being bound to me-”

Wonwoo felt anger flow hot before he could stop it.

“You act like I should be happy about this! My life will never be the same because I’m too fucking _weak_ to keep my own ability in check, and you act like I should just accept it! I don’t even know what’s real anymore and you’re just too calm about this and I’m trying, I really am, but weird shit happening has never turned out well for me.”

Seungcheol looked away, his hands clenched into fists in his lap.

Wonwoo sighed, his anger dissipating like a cloud of smoke.

“Seungcheol, I’m not good at just going with the flow,” he started. He shifted closer to the vampire and laid a hand on top of his. He expected Seungcheol to flinch away, to return his anger with anger, but he just looked at him with gentle eyes.

 “My parents…never mind, it’s not important. I’m sorry for getting angry. I’m worried that our bond has changed me, and that I won’t ever be who I was before. That doesn’t mean that I hate being bound to you. I actually kind of like you, but it’s going to take me a while to get used to your feelings being inside my head.”

Seungcheol flipped his hand and laced their fingers together.

“I’m sorry too. This is gonna sound sappy, but I feel like this is destiny, like the red string of fate. I’ve been so worried about you hating me that I kind of ignored how all of this might be affecting you. I’m a vampire, weird magic shit is kind of what keeps me alive, so it doesn’t really worry me the same way.”

Fate. Wonwoo felt the laugh bubble out of him before he could stop it. Seungcheol pushed at his shoulder gently with his other hand, and Wonwoo had to put a hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t wake the neighbors.

“Don’t be mean,” he pouted, moving closer until their shoulders were touching, “I’m glad you’re not upset anymore. I hope you feel like you can talk to me, now. I want to be here for you, Wonwoo, in whatever way you’ll let me.”

Wonwoo’s laugh died in this throat as Seungcheol’s words shivered their way up his spine.

He thought about what Jun had said about him and Seungcheol, and that made him think about Jun’s lips ghosting against his in the promise of a kiss, and that made him chew on his bottom lip as he looked into Seungcheol’s eyes. He felt Seungcheol still next to him in that way only vampires could, like he wasn’t alive at all. He wondered if Seungcheol could feel it through their bond, the way his blood heated up at the thought.

He was tired, so tired of feeling out of control, and he was tired of overthinking everything, and as he stared at Seungcheol he decided to stop worrying and start doing.

Wonwoo leaned forward until their lips connected. It was just a touch, barely a kiss at all, and Seungcheol pulled back almost instantly and let out a shaky exhale between them, eyes wide. If Wonwoo concentrated, he could sense it. Seungcheol was worried, but he wanted Wonwoo to kiss him again.

“I want to kiss you again too,” Wonwoo whispered as he surged forward, slotting their lips together into a proper kiss. He could feel Seungcheol’s heart pound through their intertwined hands. He moved forward until he was straddling Seungcheol’s lap, their chests brushing together.

Seungcheol moved his hands up Wonwoo’s back and licked across his bottom lip. He opened up, sighing into Seungcheol’s mouth as their tongues moved against each other. He let his tongue trace against Seungcheol’s fangs, a thrill running through him at the thought of them breaking his skin. He slid his hands into Seungcheol’s hair and tugged just a little, just enough to make Seungcheol’s hands tighten on him.

Wonwoo’s mind turned to white noise as Seungcheol’s hands moved down to grip his hips. He could feel Seungcheol’s dick growing hard, and he rolled his hips against him. Seungcheol groaned and his teeth caught on Wonwoo’s bottom lip, almost drawing blood, and he had to pull away and bury his face in Seungcheol’s shoulder. He tried to regulate his breathing, but all he could think about was Seungcheol fucking into him all night, until he was loose limbed and hazy and didn’t have to think about anything anymore.

He rolled his hips down again and Seungcheol made a low noise.

“I want you to fuck me,” he said, lifting his head so he could look into Seungcheol’s dark eyes, so he could see that he was serious.

Seungcheol blinked and nodded dazedly. “Yeah. Yeah. Okay.”

Wonwoo kissed him one more time, long enough that Seungcheol’s dick twitched impatiently against him, before taking the vampire by the hand and pulling him along to his bedroom.

He fell back against the mattress and pulled Seungcheol so that he was on top of him, arms caging him in. Seungcheol looked down at him like he was unbelievable and precious, like some priceless gem, and something fluttered around in his chest. He looped his arms around Seungcheol’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. They explored each other lazily, like they had all the time in the world. Seungcheol backed away just enough search his eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asked softly, even as Wonwoo’s cock pressed hard against his thigh.

He nodded and his face heated up just a little.

“I won’t hurt you.” He sat up to slide his shirt over his head. The way he said it implied that he could, and it made Wonwoo shiver.

He tossed it off the bed and his hands moved under Wonwoo’s shirt. He sucked in a breath as he inched the fabric higher. Seungcheol’s hands weren’t as cold as he thought they’d be, even against his overheated skin. Wonwoo was thin, but he wasn’t frail, and the way Seungcheol looked at his body made need shoot hot through him. He let the vampire pull his shirt over his head and wasted no time connecting their lips in a heated kiss. His hands roamed over the exposed skin like he’d die if he didn’t touch every inch of Seungcheol.

He arched up, pressing his cock into Seungcheol’s thigh, seeking friction. He should have known Seungcheol would be the type to take his time. Seungcheol smiled against his lips before sitting up again to trace the flat planes of his stomach, his hip bones, the waistband of his jeans.

“Seungcheol, please, I _need_ -” he started, not caring how desperate he sounded, but Seungcheol picked that moment to trace his fingers over the outline of his cock, and his words cut off into a moan.

“Shh,” he said, his eyes dark with desire, “I know what you need.”

Wonwoo almost whimpered when Seungcheol undid the button of his jeans, fingers teasing over his erection as he slid down the zipper. He leaned forward to open the drawer next to his bed, taking out the lube like it wasn’t their first time doing this. He turned back to Wonwoo and settled between his legs, sliding his jeans down hastily. Once he was naked, Wonwoo felt heat creep back into his face. Seungcheol stared at him like he was a piece of art, like he was so much more than a boy who could raise the dead.

“You’re beautiful,” he breathed out, and Wonwoo flushed down to his chest, his cock twitching desperately at the praise. He ground out a _please_ that had Seungcheol smirking before he uncapped the lube and coated his fingers. He looked at Wonwoo and his tongue darted out to lick his lips.

“Do you trust me?”

Wonwoo was nothing but the coil of want in his gut. Seungcheol could ask to turn him and he would have agreed.

“Whatever you’re gonna do, just do it,” he breathed out, throwing his arm over his face to hide his shameless desire, and he felt Seungcheol lick a stripe up his cock before slipping a finger inside.

Oh.

It was because of his fangs.

Wonwoo keened and spread his legs wider, seeking more, anything. Seungcheol licked across his slit as he took him fully into his mouth, and the slight danger of it made Wonwoo twitch against his tongue. Seungcheol slid off him with a little pop just so he could smirk up at him, thrusting his finger a little harder.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t hurt me,” Wonwoo panted out as Seungcheol added a second finger, not giving him any time to adjust. He thrust both fingers deep, twisting them in a way that had him digging his heels in the mattress. It shouldn’t feel that good.

“I don’t think I’m hurting you at all,” he said, voice steeped with desire, “I wonder how much of my real strength you could take, but we’ll have to save that for later.”

He did something with his fingers again and Wonwoo arched off the bed, the arm covering his eyes moving to cover his mouth to keep his moan from echoing off the walls. Seungcheol gave him a wicked grin and added a third finger, stroking insistently over his prostate. He leaned back down and took Wonwoo’s dick all the way to the base, and it was so intense Wonwoo bit his hand hard enough that he probably drew blood, every part of him on fire.

He bucked up weakly into Seungcheol’s mouth, moving his hands to fist the sheets and he gasped out breaths. He was already so close. He thought dizzily that Seungcheol didn’t need to breathe if he didn’t want to, and he felt heat pool in his gut so fast he had to pull Seungcheol by the hair off his cock.

“I’m ready, I’m ready,” he gasped, and Seungcheol thrust into him a few more times just to watch him writhe against the sheets.

Seungcheol pulled his fingers out and wiped them on his jeans before quickly ridding himself of them. He tossed them off the bed and Wonwoo took one look at his dick and swore under his breath.

Seungcheol gave him a smug grin and slicked himself up with more lube than could possibly be necessary. He leaned down to kiss him, let their erections brush together enough to send little jolts through his body. He could taste his precum in Seungcheol’s mouth and it made him groan.

He couldn’t help himself. He broke their kiss to reach down and stroke over Seungcheol’s slick cock, and the vampire squeezed his eyes shut and moaned.

“You’re so hot.” Wonwoo ran his thumb across the head of Seungcheol’s cock and he sucked in a breath.

“The things I want to do to you,” he said, voice low as he pulled Wonwoo’s hand off him and lined himself up.

“Tell me,” Wonwoo gasped out as he slowly pushed in. He sighed, the stretch more than he was expecting but exactly what he wanted. Seungcheol grazed his teeth against his neck, and he shivered as the vampire moved his mouth next to his ear.

“I want to suck you off until you almost come, then I want to keep you there all night. I want to see how long you can last, then I want to see how many times you can come. I want to fuck you while I drink from you. I want to see if you can fuck me while I drink from you. I want to paint you with your own blood and lick it all off.”

Wonwoo moaned, the words making him tighten around Seungcheol, who hissed at the feeling and bucked his hips forward. He dug his nails into Seungcheol’s back.

“Move god _please move_.”

Seungcheol obliged, pulling out until just the tip was left inside him, then sliding slowly back in as deep as he could go. Wonwoo wanted to scream and he tried to make his annoyance show on his face. Fucking tease.

Seungcheol smirked and stroked his hand across Wonwoo’s cheek. It was a gentle moment, like they were in love and not just fucking because they wanted to, and as much as he wanted to hate it he couldn’t find the will to.

Seungcheol kept fucking into him like that, slow but deep, and a warm pleasure spread from his chest down to his aching cock. He reached down to touch himself and managed to stroke over his cock once before Seungcheol tangled their hands together on the sheets.

“Don’t be so impatient. Let me get you there and I promise it’ll be the best orgasm of your life.”

Wonwoo almost rolled his eyes. Shameless. He wrapped one of his legs around Seungcheol’s hips, pushing at him with his heel, desperate to get him to speed up. He raked his nails down Seungcheol’s back, and that made him speed up mid thrust, slamming inside with enough force to move him up the bed. Wonwoo threw his head back and moaned unrestrained. Finally.

Seungcheol gave him one more hard thrust before slowing back down again, and Wonwoo was so frustrated he could cry. God, couldn’t Seungcheol tell how much he wanted to come?

He scratched hard down Seungcheol’s back again, and sure enough Seungcheol hissed and slammed into him. Wonwoo smirked.

“You like this,” he said simply, and Seungcheol bit his lip in concentration.

“I like a lot of things,” he said, grinding slowly inside him, “but right now what I like is watching you come undone.”

Wonwoo squeezed his eyes shut as a jolt of pleasure coursed through his body. Every slow thrust was teasing over that sensitive spot inside him, and maybe Seungcheol was right. The slow pace was annoying until it built up and he couldn’t take it anymore. He was sure he could come just from thinking about it hard enough.

“Fuck that’s good.”

Seungcheol smirked and thrust a little harder, a little faster. Wonwoo gripped the sheets tight. He was sensitive, on edge, and Seungcheol was finally giving him what he wanted. He wouldn’t last.

He rolled his hips into each thrust as Seungcheol finally gave in and fucked him like he meant it. Every breath came out in a moan, and his hands moved to grip Seungcheol’s hips tightly.

He breathed out what he hoped was _I’m close_ , and Seungcheol continued his brutal pace. Wonwoo felt his connection with Seungcheol open wide, warmth spreading from his chest downward until it coupled with the heat already pooled in his abdomen.

He didn’t have time to think, his orgasm crashing into him right as Seungcheol thrust hard, and he came with a shout all over his chest. He came so much and for so long he felt dizzy. Seungcheol leaned down to kiss him, easing him through it but still chasing his own release.

He was still coming down when Seungcheol’s hips stuttered, and he buried his face in Wonwoo’s shoulder as he came inside him. Wonwoo’s eyes fluttered at the feeling, and he ran his hands through Seungcheol’s hair as he stilled.

They lay there for a few minutes, kissing slowly, until Wonwoo pushed at Seungcheol’s shoulder enough to get the boy propped on his hands.

“As nice as this is, you’re kind of crushing me. And now I need a shower.”

Seungcheol smiled softly and gave him one last kiss before pulling out and sprawling on his back on the bed. Wonwoo rolled out of bed and straight to the bathroom. Hopefully he’d been fast enough that most of the come stayed off his sheets. He really didn’t have time to do laundry.

He turned the shower on as hot as he could stand and before he stepped in, he opened the door just a crack and called quietly, “You can come in too if you want.”

Seungcheol was in the bathroom before Wonwoo had even opened the shower curtain. He sighed. Damn vampire speed.

A strictly platonic shower later, they were both lying in Wonwoo’s bed.

 “So what now?” Seungcheol asked, pulling him closer to tangle their legs together under the sheets.

“Well, tomorrow night I have to meet a client to raise someone for them. And after that,” Wonwoo started, but trailed off when he looked into Seungcheol’s eyes. His mouth pulled into a pout. “I guess that’s not what you meant.”

“Wonwoo, look. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I-,” Seungcheol started. He took a deep breath and traced his palm with his finger. “I like you. I don’t want this to be a one-time thing.”

His eyes searched Wonwoo’s, and it was so like Seungcheol he almost laughed. Bold and shameless to a fault.

“What did you think I was going to say? ‘My name is Jeon Wonwoo and I don’t date vampires, I kill them?’” Wonwoo asked. He smiled slyly, letting his eyes roam over Seungcheol’s surprisingly embarrassed face. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to _date_ , but this definitely doesn’t have to be a one-time thing.”

“I can work with that.” Seungcheol kissed his way up his neck before connecting their lips.

Wonwoo sighed before breaking their kiss, taking a deep breath before speaking.

“You’re really okay with not being exclusive? It wouldn’t bother you if I was sleeping with someone else?” he asked quietly, flushing at his words. He’d never had to say it out loud before, hadn’t wanted anything close to a relationship in a long time.

Seungcheol grinned and pulled him close.

“I’ve always thought monogamy was a shitty concept. As long as you feel the same about me sleeping with other people, or dating other people if it comes down to it, then I’d call this a deal.”

Wonwoo kissed him again, hoping Seungcheol could feel how grateful he was for being understood, and maybe even for being cared about. He felt his cock stir again, and rolled over so he was hovering above the vampire.

“Can I blow you?” he asked, a little breathless.

Seungcheol smirked. “Do you really think you can keep me from choking you?”

“Who said anything about keeping you from doing that?”

Seungcheol groaned, and Wonwoo kissed his way down the vampire’s body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are officially half way there everyone!!! Thank you for sticking with me so far! It's still New Years' Eve for me, but I hope you all have a wonderful start to 2019!!! <33


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that Graphic Depictions of Violence tag?
> 
> :)

Wonwoo walked up the hill, a chill in the air making him shiver as he made his way to the grave specified by his anonymous client. He’d been given a location only, but still had no other information. Wonwoo was completely unsurprised to find the grave deserted. He had come exactly on time, and his mystery client was nowhere to be found. If he hadn’t dropped a small fortune for his services, Wonwoo would have assumed he’d been pranked. This exact scenario was why he had rules.

He checked his phone. He’d give the guy ten minutes to show, and then he was headed back home. He walked a casual circle around the grave, poking into the ground a bit with his power just to see what was what. The headstone was too faded for him to read, which wasn’t a good sign. Nobody who was a year dead would have a grave this worn. Alarm bells screeched in his mind, and he decided to listen.

He heard a noise behind him, and as he turned to see what it was large arms wrapped tightly around his body. He tried to kick backwards, struggle, anything to get free, but it was no use. Wonwoo was small, but he wasn’t weak. This person was ridiculously strong, and it felt like a vice pinning his arms tight to his sides. The attacker wrenched his wrists together in front of him, zip tying them before pushing him to his knees. His heart thudded in his chest, and he wondered for a moment if he was really going to get hurt tonight.

“You’re a lot skinnier in person,” the guy said as he tugged the zip tie as tight as it would go. It was cutting into the skin of his wrists, and if he didn’t get out of them soon his hands wouldn’t be in good shape. He didn’t do anything to Wonwoo’s feet, which was surprising because he would definitely run if he saw an opportunity. Surely this guy knew that? He came to stand in front of Wonwoo, leering down as his frame blocked the moonlight.

 

It was him.

 

 

Black and red jacket.

 

 

Number seventeen.

 

 

“What is this? Who are you?” Wonwoo asked, doing his best to breathe through his panic. Being scared wouldn’t help him, he knew, but he couldn’t keep the tremor out of his voice. The guy sneered before pulling Wonwoo’s head back roughly by the hair.

“You brought that bitch back and she told the cops about me. That was already enough for me to kill you. Then, it turns out you’re fucking the Master of the City? Getting to him is a reward waiting to happen.”

Wonwoo schooled his face into blankness as the hand in his hair tightened.

“As for my name, you can call me Jiho, but you won’t be able to say it for long.”

“I’m not fucking the Master-,” Wonwoo started, but a backhand across his mouth quickly shut him up. He could feel blood on his teeth and he fought the urge to gag.

Shit.

“I’m sure a whore like you would say anything to keep yourself alive. Pity for you I saw your little rendezvous. Tell me, does he pay you? Do you let him suck your blood or does he just fuck you?” He sneered and ran a hand down Wonwoo’s red cheek, “Or do you just let him do it all for free because you get off on it?”

A rustling in the woods made him turn, and as he stepped toward the sound Wonwoo took the chance. He stood on shaky legs, brought his hands down on his knee as hard as he could, and as the zip tie broke he ran. He could hear Jiho follow after him, but Wonwoo was confident. He was a fast runner, he’d run most of his high school career, and his body got into a rhythm quickly. He made it half way to his car before he was tackled to the dirt.

“Well now, aren’t you feisty? I can’t have you getting away from me, Jeon Wonwoo. I’m a man of my word, and that means you’re dying tonight.”

His left arm was wrenched behind his back and he was forced to his knees again. His heart pounded hard in his chest and he struggled to breathe.

“I don’t think you’ll be doing any more running,” he sneered out, mouth next to Wonwoo’s ear.

For the rest of his life, Wonwoo would never forget sickening crack of his arm breaking. He screamed, couldn’t keep the sound inside. He’d never felt anything so painful. It was blinding. When Jiho let go his arm flopped against his side, useless, but the tiny impact was like a fire in his brain and he sucked in a ragged breath.

He was right. Wonwoo wouldn’t run again.

“Now stay put. Didn’t your master train you better than this?”

Wonwoo forced himself to stop screaming. He was dizzy with pain, his breath gasping out of his lungs like he was drowning. He could feel blood oozing down his arm, over his fingers and into the dirt.

He was really going to die.

Jiho walked around to face him again, and Wonwoo made himself look up into his eyes, made himself appear brave in the face of his own death.

“Still have some fight in you?”

He backhanded Wonwoo again and the shooting pain in his arm made his vision fill with static. He spit blood into the dirt and kept his eyes fixed on the man in front of him.

Jiho pulled a gun out of the waistband of his jeans, and Wonwoo’s vision tunneled until the black barrel was the only thing he could see. He put his foot against Wonwoo’s chest and pushed him back, until he was propped up on his good hand in the dirt.

“I came prepared today, zombie boy. This could kill a vampire, so even if you’re more than human you’re dying right here, right now.”

Wonwoo squeezed his eyes shut as he heard the click of the safety.

They say your life flashes before your eyes before you die, but all Wonwoo could think about was if Mingyu would find someone else to train him.

 

 

If Joshua would bring Jeonghan to his funeral.

 

 

If Jun would be sad that they never kissed.

 

 

If Seungcheol-

 

 

He heard a thud and opened his eyes.

 

Seungcheol.

 

Seungcheol was here.

 

He tackled Jiho to the ground, the gun flying from his hand and landing a few feet away. Wonwoo felt hope bloom in his chest. Seungcheol was really here.

They struggled against each other. Seungcheol managed to land a few punches, but his left arm seemed weak, like he’d hurt it during the scuffle. Eventually Jiho flipped them so he was sitting with his full weight on Seungcheol. He pulled a knife from his back pocket, and the way it glinted in the moonlight made Wonwoo sick to his stomach.

“I told you I came prepared,” he shouted, and Wonwoo watched completely frozen as he plunged it into Seungcheol’s stomach.

Wonwoo couldn’t see if it was silver or not, couldn’t make himself move any closer. He was in so much pain it made his vision fade in and out. Shit. This wasn’t how his night was supposed to go at all. Seungcheol screamed and Wonwoo watched Jiho pull the knife from his stomach and shove it back in, over and over and over.

Wonwoo felt that warm power, the link between him and Seungcheol, tingle up and down his spine. Something was wrong. His mind flashed back to his meeting with Jun, and he sat up with a yelp of pain. He was metaphysically bound to Seungcheol, and if something happened to him, Wonwoo would suffer too. If he died, then Wonwoo would…

He didn’t look at his left arm. He knew he’d be sick if he saw it. The blood dripping slow and steady from his arm told him the bone was probably through the skin, and might have even punctured something important along the way. He focused instead on inching forward to the gun left forgotten in the dirt.

Seungcheol screamed again and Wonwoo’s vision went blurry. He fell forward, propping himself up with his good arm, and wave after wave of pain crashed through him. He wondered through the haze if he was feeling what Seungcheol felt, if that was what happened to his arm, if that was why he wasn’t fighting back. God. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want Seungcheol to die either.

He took a breath and crawled two more paces, four more, until he was able to wrap his hand around the cool black metal of the gun. He turned back toward the struggle, wincing as another wave of pain crashed through his stomach. If the knife was really silver, he didn’t think Seungcheol would survive.

He lifted the gun, trying to summon up the tiny amount of knowledge Jihoon had passed along to him at the range a lifetime ago. Breathe in, aim. Breathe out, shoot. Safety off. Aim steady. Trust yourself.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, let his mind go blank. He felt the cool misty brush of his power, and he let it lead him. He opened his eyes, aiming straight for the black and red varsity jacket, right between the big 17. All he could hear was white noise as he took a breath in, and his vision hazed at the edges until everything narrowed to a pinpoint. He breathed out and pulled the trigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our dear villain Jiho is not meant to be any idol in particular. I just picked a name at random!
> 
>  
> 
> (I'll try not to keep all of you hanging too long! I didn't mean for this to be a cliffhanger it just happened that way;;;;;;;)


	8. Chapter 8

 

When Wonwoo woke up, he was in a hospital bed. Mingyu and Joshua were on one side of the bed, and Seungcheol was on the other.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice cracking from disuse.

Seungcheol squeezed his hand, the one not wrapped in a cast, tight enough that it would have hurt if he was more aware. Mingyu started crying and Joshua rubbed soothing circles across his back.

“Your arm is broken and you lost some blood, but you should be fine,” Seungcheol explained.

He kept rubbing his thumb over Wonwoo’s hand. He wasn’t usually one for much physical contact, but the touch was comforting.

“We’ll give you two some privacy. I’m sure you have a lot to talk about,” Joshua said gently. He stood and pulled Mingyu up with him. “I’m so glad you’re alright, Wonwoo. Jeonghan and I will visit once you’re settled back at home.”

 “Vernon gave you a lot of leave, _paid_ leave so you know he feels really bad. He says the guy lied to get a phone call with you, and he hopes you can forgive him. I’m gonna check on you every single day so you better answer your phone,” Mingyu said, wiping his eyes hastily. He ran his hand through Wonwoo’s hair before following Joshua and closing the door behind him.

Once they were alone, Wonwoo let out a shaky breath. He felt like crying and throwing up all at once.

“Jiho…did I….is he-” Wonwoo couldn’t finish, looking away from Seungcheol toward the door. He felt the first tear slide down his cheek and almost laughed out loud at how pathetic he felt. Jiho tried to kill him, was well on his way to killing Seungcheol which would have also killed him, and yet he was crying because he’d probably taken someone’s life. It wasn’t without a cause, but he felt dirty all the same.

Seungcheol took his face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs under his eyes to catch his tears.

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” he said softly, smiling before he looked away, “I felt it when he broke your arm, you know. I couldn’t move mine at all. I bet you felt it every time I got stabbed. I’m sorry for that, but I’m not sorry I followed you and tackled that fucker into the dirt.”

Wonwoo just nodded. Later, he’d digest this information, apply it to their connection, and see if he could figure out more about it. But for now, he was still too spent. Seungcheol looked back into his eyes and continued.

“You passed out after you fired the gun, but you have great aim. I called Junhui and he sent Minghao to help me with the cleanup. He was the one you were looking for right? For your case?”

Wonwoo nodded, the words wrapping around his mind like gauze. It didn’t feel real. Even lying in a hospital bed, it felt like he was hearing about something that happened to a different Wonwoo, a different Seungcheol. Seungcheol made him turn his head to face him.

“He was going to kill you, Wonwoo. He broke your arm and was about to shoot you. Then he stabbed me at least 20 times, and thank god it wasn’t silver or I’d be dead right now. We both almost died, and you did what you had to do to protect yourself.”

Wonwoo leaned into the touch and let Seungcheol comfort him. This wasn’t the kind of thing that would heal instantly. Like his arm, the hollow place in his chest would take time to mend.

“I know that I had to do it, but that doesn’t make it easier,” he said quietly in the space between them, “I never wanted to kill anyone, but now I have, and I’ll have to come to terms with it.”

Seungcheol ran a thumb across his cheek before moving to hold Wonwoo’s hand between both of his.

“It turns out he was a wolf from a pack up north. Jiho probably wasn’t his real name, more likely an alias or code name. Junhui thinks he was sent here by that Master of the City, so this whole thing is turning into a gigantic mess,” Seungcheol said. He let go of Wonwoo’s hand to rub at his face roughly, “It’s a vampire relations disaster, and I’m afraid you’re a part of the mess too. I know that you won’t like it but you can’t tell the police about any of this.”

Wonwoo sighed. A part of him wondered if Jun had an idea that something was going on and that was why he made the offer. Either way, at least he’d voluntarily gotten involved before everything went to shit.

“I understand what it meant when I said I’d work for Jun. I know how the preternatural community works. You try to handle your own problems without involving humans. You’re right. I don’t like it, but I’ll deal with it. I just hope Jun gives me a little time to heal up before demanding I go on any adventures.”

Seungcheol smiled.

“I know that Junhui can be very intimidating, but he’s kind to his people. As long as you don’t cross him, he’ll be kind to you too.”

Wonwoo nodded and closed his eyes, settling back against the bed. He was suddenly so, so tired, like he hadn’t slept in weeks even though he’d technically been unconscious over a day. He had almost drifted back to sleep when a thought flitted through his mind so startling that he sat straight up in the bed.

“Did I animate anything when I was out?!” he blurted out, turning to Seungcheol and running a shaky hand through his hair. What if it had happened again? What if he bound himself to another vampire? Or worse, what if he’d animated the entire morgue?

Seungcheol put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed him gently.

“You didn’t do anything like that while you were out,” he said softly. He looked down at his feet, like he was trying to find the words he wanted to say. “It’s just a theory, but I think that being bound to me has helped to stabilize your power. We can test it out more once you’re healed, but it seems the most reasonable conclusion.”

Wonwoo let out all his breath in a whoosh, flopping back against the pillow gently. At least something good had come of all this insanity.

“What about you? Have you gained anything from being bound to me?”

Seungcheol leaned closer, until his lips were next to his ear.

“I think you know the answer to that.”

He smiled and let his eyes fall shut again. He still didn’t know where this thing with Seungcheol was headed or how their bond played into it, but he was glad the vampire was with him. Seungcheol was loyal to a fault, not afraid to go after anything he wanted, and even without knowing if he would survive, he’d done whatever he could to save Wonwoo’s life.

They’d both gained a lot from meeting each other.

 

 

******

 

 

Wonwoo’s cast came off in record time, six weeks instead of sixteen. His doctor was skeptical until the x-rays showed a perfectly intact bone, like he’d never broken his arm at all, and he was sent home with a pat on the back and quiet murmurs.

 _“Promise you won’t get mad?”_ Seungcheol asked him, his tone serious over the phone.

They had started spending more time apart, mostly to test the limits of their bond. Seungcheol was staying at his apartment three days a week, and the other four he stayed at Wonwoo’s newly light tight apartment. Wonwoo was getting used to allotting a bit of his energy to Seungcheol and he tried his best to eat an extra meal every day to make up for it. Balancing energy with a different kind of energy was something his teacher had told him to try, and so far it was working well.

“Just tell me.”

_“I spoke with Junhui when you got out of the hospital, and he suggested that I might be able to help you heal faster if I gave you some of my energy. So I did.”_

“Isn’t that dangerous for you?”

Seungcheol shouted something away from the phone, probably work stuff, before sighing into the receiver. _“No more dangerous than anything else I’ve done. I made sure to keep myself healthy, don’t worry. It was worth it because now you’re better. What are you doing later?”_

Wonwoo was glad Seungcheol wasn’t there to see him grin.

“I’m staying in. Just planning to read my new book.”

_“I bet I can entertain you better than a book, if you’ll let me. I’ll see you later.”_

Wonwoo heard the beep of the call ending and couldn’t stop smiling. He knew Seungcheol could probably feel some of his happiness, but he’d been working to learn shielding. Mingyu was teaching him, and it was a balancing act on keeping Seungcheol out without cutting him off completely, but he got better every day. After three weeks of practicing he had felt almost back to his old self, only feeling traces of Seungcheol on occasion. He didn’t think things would ever go back to the way they were before, but he wasn’t sure that he really wanted it to anymore.

 

 

****

 

 

 

Wonwoo had only been in one relationship. It was during college, his second year, with a girl in his Anthropology class. He had decided to tell her about being an animator a week before their one year anniversary, and she’d slapped him across the face, told him he was a monster, and broke up with him on the spot. He went to the nearest bar and when he got back to his dorm he crawled into Joshua’s bed, running his hands under the wereleopard’s shirt just to feel the heat of his skin. He didn’t remember much, but Joshua told him he cried for an hour straight and kept saying he’d never date another human ever again.

Relationships were hard, and feelings were too. Wonwoo swore off commitment after that, and finished his college career with an impressive number of one night stands. Joshua walked in on him once not long after his breakup, on his knees for a boy with candy pink hair, and stopped speaking to him for two weeks. He made sure to keep his escapades out of their dorm after that.

Wonwoo wondered sometimes if he would ever settle down with one person again or if he even needed to. It wasn’t like his parents cared what he did. After all, his parents had never had a son according to the Jeon family registry.

Once, after a particularly brutal homicide case, Wonwoo and Mingyu went out for drinks. He found out, thanks to one too many shots, that Mingyu had a friend who was dating two people. They were all dating each other, actually. Wonwoo didn’t know relationships like that could exist, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

He didn’t think he could give all of himself to one person again, but he could share, and that seemed easier.

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Wonwoo woke up to Seungcheol’s lips against his neck, his body tucked into his side on the couch.

“How long have you been here?” he asked, voice thick with sleep.

“Not too long. Maybe ten minutes. I guess it’s a little late for you.”

“What time is it?”

“Around 3. Work took a little longer than I thought.”

Wonwoo moved in Seungcheol’s arms so his back was against his chest. Seungcheol was warm against his skin. He must have fed earlier.

He ran his hands down Wonwoo’s arms, his face buried in the back of his neck.

“I got a call from the Master today.”

Wonwoo traced the back of Seungcheol’s hands with his finger.

“What did he say?”

“How do you feel about going on a little trip up north next week?”

Wonwoo sighed. He knew it was coming, and he was just grateful he was healed. Jun had called him once when he got out of the hospital, and it had left him so hot and bothered he’d practically pounced on Seungcheol when he’d come home from White Noise, backing him against the door and sinking to his knees before he could even take his shoes off, cast be damned.

“Is Jun coming too?”

Seungcheol kissed the back of his neck and moved his mouth next to his ear.

“That depends on how hard you work,” he whispered, and the words went straight to his groin, body sensitive in his sleepy haze.

“Don’t say things like that, Seungcheol,” he whined, leaning his head back and exposing more of his neck in spite of his words. Seungcheol’s hand trailed up his thigh.

“I can’t help it. It’s hot that you want to fuck Junhui. Or maybe you want him to fuck you. It doesn’t seem like you have much of a preference.”

Wonwoo groaned as Seungcheol cupped him through his pants. His lips were back to the sensitive spot where his neck met his shoulder.

“What about right now? Do you want to fuck me? Or do you want me to fuck you?”

Seungcheol bit down gently, just enough for him to feel his fangs, and Wonwoo moaned so loud he thought his neighbors would definitely complain.

“Do you even need blood or are you just being a tease?” he asked instead of answering.

Seungcheol moved his hand up to grip his waist tightly, a low noise escaping him.

“Did you know if I bite you while I fuck you, you can have a whole separate orgasm just from that?”

“Are you saying that you’re gonna fuck me?”

Seungcheol adjusted Wonwoo so that when he got up from the couch he was carrying him bridal style. Wonwoo wasn’t heavy, but he was tall, and he wasn’t used to being carried by anyone. It was maybe…nice.

“I promise I’ll be careful of your arm, and I’ll make you come three times.”

Wonwoo shivered in Seungcheol’s arms as they made their way to the bedroom.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long! I'm really getting all fluttery as we near the end! Things are happening!!!! 
> 
>  
> 
> As always thanks for sticking with me. I really love you all so much like...it's unbelievable that you're all reading this but I'm so grateful ;~;


	9. Chapter 9

 

Wonwoo had never been in a limousine before. He should have known someone as important as the Master of the City would travel in luxury, even if it was in a coffin, the space specifically designed for him and partitioned off from the main seating area. Seungcheol was back there too, and Wonwoo wondered absently how Minghao managed to move two coffins by himself. He was seated across from Minghao who was typing away on a laptop. They still had a good bit of driving time before they reached their destination, and Wonwoo’s curiosity was slowly winning over his enjoyment of quiet.

“So…are you Jun’s secretary?” he asked, his voice coming out louder than he intended.

Minghao looked up from his laptop, annoyance clear on his face.

“I’m Junhui’s human servant. Do you really not know _anything_ about vampires?”

Wonwoo huffed. He’d taken one elective class in college on preternatural history, and he’d never really known any vampires until he met Seungcheol.

“Not really, sorry. What exactly is a human servant?”

Minghao stopped looking annoyed, which made Wonwoo feel much more at ease. He closed the laptop with a firm click and set it in his bag.

“Basically, Junhui and I are bound to each other, but it’s different from how you and Seungcheol are bound. Becoming a human servant takes four separate rituals, with words and blood and stuff, and after a human receives the fourth mark they basically become immortal. Junhui gains power from me, and I help him by doing all the things he can’t do during the day.”

Wonwoo nodded. It did seem different than the bond he had with Seungcheol.

“So how long have you been Jun’s human servant?”

Minghao hummed and tapped his fingers on his knees.

“Since he’s been the Master of the City. The old Master wouldn’t let any other vampires make a human servant, even though all vampires can do it. He was really a terrible man. When I first came here I couldn’t speak anything but Mandarin. Junhui would come visit me and teach me in secret,” Minghao said, a soft smile spreading across his face, “I think I reminded him a lot of himself. He took pity on me, and when he killed the Master I agreed to help him. He made me his human servant as a way to repay me for what I’d done, but even after all this time I don’t think I’ve come close to repaying him for what he’s done for me.”

Wonwoo looked down at his shoes. It seemed like everyone connected to vampires had a sad past, and he wondered if Seungcheol was the same. They hadn’t talked about it, and since Wonwoo had been shielding he hadn’t had any more dreams. He figured that when Seungcheol was ready, he’d tell him.

“So…since you’re immortal I guess you don’t age?”

Minghao laughed and it was a pretty sound. Wonwoo felt the somber atmosphere lighten almost instantly.

“No, I suppose I don’t. I’ve looked the same since the 1950s, but imagine if Junhui had some creepy looking old man following him around everywhere. That would be a sight.”

Wonwoo’s lips quirked up in a smile. They spent the rest of the drive scrolling through their phones. They were staying in a hotel a few miles away from the Master’s home, vampire friendly of course. Once the car was parked Minghao got their room keys and the two had just enough time to move bags inside the rooms before the sun finally set.

“Thank god,” Minghao murmured next to him, “They can move their own coffins.”

Wonwoo hid a laugh behind his hand. Minghao walked across the hall to his room and Wonwoo curled up on the bed with a book. Seungcheol showed up a few minutes later, breathing hard.

“You two really weren’t gonna help with the coffins at all were you.”

Wonwoo’s mouth turned up at the corners. “Not a chance. Where did you put them?”

“Junhui got a separate room for them down the hall. Our meeting starts in an hour. I hope you brought something nice to wear.”

Wonwoo blanched. “What do you mean nice?”

Seungcheol huffed. “Vampire meetings are a ridiculous spectacle of wealth. When two Masters meet each other it’s like watching peacocks. You’ll see.”

Forty five minutes later Wonwoo was tossed into black slacks and a crisp white button down courtesy of Minghao (“I always bring extra, just in case.”). Seungcheol was wearing an all-black suit, tailored so he could fit a dagger behind his back without it showing through his jacket. They were all in the limo before Jun finally made his appearance.

Junhui was breathtaking in a navy suit and white shirt, the jacket trim decorated in black crystals. He wore a necklace dripping in diamonds and carried a staff covered in precious gems, and Wonwoo couldn’t keep his eyes off the vampire. He looked too good to be real.

Seungcheol leaned over to whisper in his ear, “I told you.”

Jun leveled his eyes at Wonwoo, a simmering kind of heat there that set Wonwoo on fire from the inside. Jun seemed to push his buttons effortlessly.

“ _Xiao yòu_ , I am so glad that you are well enough to be here.”

Wonwoo’s face flushed. “I’m fine. The doctor even cleared me to go back to work next week.”

Jun smiled and slid in next to Minghao, and with a tap on the partition they were off.

 

 

  
*****

 

 

 

 

 

Wonwoo expected the Master to live in a fancy high rise like Jun, but instead they drove out to the country, sprawling fields and hills flanking a ranch style house. It was still large, even bigger than the house he’s grown up in, and showed a ridiculous amount of wealth. As they headed inside, Minghao tugged him back by the hand. Wonwoo looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“Let the Master lead. Don’t speak unless expressly asked to do so. Don’t contradict him in any way. Remember that we are in hostile territory, and anything can be taken as a weakness.”

Wonwoo nodded, and Minghao gripped him a little harder before letting go. Wonwoo took a deep breath and walked inside.

The house was decorated with tons of expensive art, paintings Wonwoo was sure historians had never seen before. Everything was lavish, leather sofas and crystal vases, marble statues and gold chandeliers.

Peacocks.

He stood behind Seungcheol when they entered a large parlor. At the back of the room, a huge chair of purple velvet held a man. He was slender, hair midnight black and eyes rimmed in black liner. He was sitting casually, completely unbothered by their presence. He barely even turned his head to regard them.

“Wen Junhui. About time you showed up.”

Jun stepped forward. Minghao stood behind and to his right. Seungcheol and Wonwoo were on his left, and Minghao caught his eyes and raised his eyebrows imperceptibly. He understood the message.

Let whatever was going to happen…happen.

“JR, my dear old friend. How is the north treating you these days?”

JR’s eyebrow quirked up in barely contained annoyance.

“Enough of this, Junhui. You’ve insulted me enough before you even arrived in my home.”

Jun looked genuinely shocked. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Wonwoo felt a shiver and tried hard to suppress it. Jun was a pretty good actor.

“You killed one of my wolves, Junhui.”

Jun’s face turned from shock to snide like flicking a light switch.

“He came to my city as a spy and he killed a human girl, JR. Anything that happened to him was justified.”

JR stood from his chair, taking a deep breath before letting it out. “Junhui, why would I send a spy to your city? You know me better than that. I have no reason to gather information on you.”

Jun smirked. “Of course I know you JR. We have a lot of history between us, which is why I know you will have no problem proving your loyalty to me.”

The vampire blanched, a mix of shock and anger on his face.

“Prove my _loyalty_? Junhui, you owe _me_ for this. I’ve lost a man because of you.”

“No, you lost a man because he was stupid. I owe you nothing. In fact-” Jun’s smile turned predatory. “I want a member of your pack. Give me a wolf to prove yourself.”

JR laughed out loud, and it was equally pretty and unsettling.

“Give you a member of my _pack_? Are you insane? I can see it was pointless asking you to come here,” he said, voice curt as he waved his hand in dismissal, “Leave. Get out of my sight.”

Jun held up a hand. “I have a necromancer in my services, JR. That pretty one there.” Jun pointed to Wonwoo before looking back at the vampire. “You will do well to indulge my request of your own free will. I can always make you, if you prefer.”

JR looked at Wonwoo, his eyes going glassy with shock.

“ _A what_?” he breathed out, taking a step closer to them.

Wonwoo stiffened and did his best to mask the shock he felt at the words. He couldn’t actually control vampires, but he knew what legends said about necromancers. Jun was using him as a display of power, a power few other vampires had.

Shit.

JR kept his eyes locked on Wonwoo, like he could stare deep enough into his eyes and see the truth. Maybe he could. Vampires had abilities that were as unique as they were. After a few minutes he looked back to Jun, disgust plain on his face.

“You’ve always been a whore Wen Junhui. Now you’re a necromancer’s whore. You’re going to get yourself killed if you let that thing live.”

Jun’s eyes flashed with anger. “You will do well to remember how it is you became Master here, JR. I will not allow you to insult what is mine.”

JR turned away from them, snapping his fingers twice in the air. Two men entered a few moments later, a boy barely upright between them.

“Here is my loyalty, Junhui. Now get out of my house. I expect you out of the city by sunset tomorrow.”

Jun smiled sweetly, like they’d been talking about business instead of thinly veiled threats. The tension made Wonwoo feel queasy. Seungcheol and Minghao stepped forward to take the kid from the men and exchanged a look over his head.

“Thank you, as always, for your impeccable hospitality, JR. I hope our next meeting is just as pleasant.”

Jun turned away and headed back toward the entrance and Wonwoo followed behind. When the door clicked shut behind them, Wonwoo heard several loud crashes. Someone was angry, and Wonwoo couldn’t really blame him. Vampire politics really were a spectacle.

When everyone was in the car headed back to the hotel, Wonwoo turned to the boy.

“Are you alright? What’s your name?”

He looked like he was in pain, his body covered in sweat and his breath coming in short pants. He looked at Wonwoo and grimaced before he spoke.

“Chan. I don’t really know what’s wrong. I feel awful. The alpha told me to meet at headquarters tonight, but he never said why.”

Wonwoo nodded and put a hand on Chan’s knee.

“When we get to the hotel I’m going to call my friend, ok? He might know what’s going on with you.”

Chan smiled gently through the pain. “Thank you. I think you guys might have saved my life.”

 

 

 

 

****

 

 

_‘Slow down Wonwoo. What’s happening to him?’_

Wonwoo took a deep breath.

“He’s sweating and shaking all over. He feels really hot, like he’s got a fever.”

 _‘Put me on speaker so I can talk to him,’_ Joshua said, voice calm despite Wonwoo’s obvious nerves.

“Ok. He can hear you now.”

_‘Chan, my name is Joshua. I’m a wereleopard and I work with the Human-Lycanthrope Coalition. Can you tell me when you were turned?’_

Chan gasped, and Wonwoo held out his hand so Chan could distract himself from the pain.

“Less than a month ago.”

_‘So this is your first full moon then?’_

Wonwoo looked to Chan in shock. His first full moon? What had the pack been planning to do with him?

“Yeah. I don’t really know what’s going on. The alpha didn’t tell me anything other than to meet up with the pack.”

_‘Wonwoo, the full moon isn’t until tomorrow night, so he should be fine. Just keep him hydrated and make sure he gets some sleep. Bring him to the Coalition tomorrow and I’ll make sure he’s safe.’_

“Is that alright with you, Chan?”

Chan nodded, looking much more relaxed now that he had some answers.

“We’ll be there tomorrow, Joshua. Thanks for all your help.”

_‘This is what I do, Wonwoo. No lycanthrope should have to go through this alone. I’d like it if you or someone with you could stay with him tonight, just to make sure he’s ok.’_

“I’ll take care of it. See you tomorrow then.”

Wonwoo hung up just as Minghao entered the room. He looked to Chan, eyes full of worry.

“Is he going to be alright?”

Wonwoo nodded. “My friend says this is his first full moon. He’ll be ok as long as someone stays with him tonight. Can you drop us off at the Coalition in the morning?”

“Of course,” Minghao said, moving to sit on the bed on the other side of Chan. “The Master sent me to get you. He wants to speak with you in his room, so I’ll watch Chan.”

Wonwoo felt a thrill of heat in his chest. He nodded and gave Chan’s shoulder a squeeze before heading across the hall to Jun’s room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is JR from NU'EST :D
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks as always for reading my dears! Remember you can find me on twitter or send me a cc if there's anything you're curious about!! I'm basically snowed in for the next few days so I'll be writing a lot @.@


	10. Chapter 10

 

When Wonwoo opened the door, he expected to find Jun reclining at the hotel desk, work strewn around him, looking every bit like the important man he was.

As it turned out, Jun was sitting on the bed, hair fluffy from the shower, wearing a baggy tee shirt and lounge pants. He looked…young. Jun had been the same age as Wonwoo when he was turned, but he always acted much older, with a presence that demanded respect. He kind of liked seeing this more relaxed side of the vampire.

“Come in, _xiao yòu_ ,” he said, motioning to the other side of the bed with a small smile.

Wonwoo shut the door behind him, and the click seemed significant somehow, like now that he was here, he couldn’t go back. He climbed on the bed, and Jun flopped against the pillows with a dramatic sigh.

“Vampires are really so tiring. All this posturing is so old fashioned. I wish we could all be a little more modern,” he said, turning on his side, “JR can say what he wants, but I know he sent that wolf into the city to target me.”

Wonwoo shrugged. “He said something along those lines before he broke my arm. Something like killing me would hurt you, and that it would get him favor.”

Jun looked down at the bed with a hum and drummed his fingers on his thigh.

“I will have someone keep an eye on the wolf he gave me, just in case JR is trying to undermine me with this. Did your friend sort everything out with the boy?”

He nodded. Jun propped his head up with his hand and let his eyes trail down Wonwoo’s face and come to a stop on his neck.

“I wonder where the wolf got the idea that you were important to me, _xiao yòu_. We only just met each other before the incident.”

Wonwoo felt his face grow hot under the attention. “He said he saw me leave your house.”

He didn’t need to know what else was said. It wasn’t really important anyway.

Jun’s grin was feral. “That bastard really thought he could make a fool of me, but he will get what he deserves.” He sat up suddenly, like he’d remembered something important. “Now my lovely animator, let us talk about why I asked you here.”

Wonwoo moved to face him, legs tucked underneath him.  “Why _did_ you want to see me?”

Jun turned, mirroring his position, and leaned his weight on his hands. “I wanted to see if you had given any thought to what we talked about. Now that Seungcheol is your lover, how do you feel?”

“Did he tell you that?”

Jun smirked. “ _Xiao yòu_ , you try to hide it but I can see where he drinks from you.”

His hand went self-consciously below his collar bone. The mark was almost a scar now, pink and shiny and barely visible unless you knew where to look, and it was completely covered by his shirt. Jun knew, or maybe he was just a good guesser. He laughed loudly and covered his mouth to stifle the sound.

“Your innocence goes so well with your prettiness.” He moved his hand away from his mouth and flashed a dangerous grin. “I want to do so many things to you, if you’ll let me. I want to ruin you.”

Wonwoo shivered and leaned closer, let himself get lost in Jun’s dark eyes. “You said whatever I wanted. What if _I_ want to be the one to ruin _you_?”

Jun ran his tongue over his bottom lip, eyes going half lidded as he moved closer.

“I would love to see you try.”

It was like being in Jun’s office all over again. The air between them was so hot Wonwoo almost couldn’t breathe. Their lips were so close together he could feel each breath Jun took. Seungcheol wasn’t in his head. Jun wasn’t either. It was just him thanks to his shielding, and all he wanted was to lick into Jun’s mouth and touch every inch of his skin.

“Do I really have to beg for it?” Wonwoo breathed out in the space between them.

Jun put a hand on his chest and pushed him back onto the bed. Jun crawled forward to straddle his hips and gaze hungrily down at him. He gripped Jun’s hips as he sat up and Jun moved his legs on either side of his lap. He buried his face in Wonwoo’s neck and breathed deeply.

Wonwoo’s heart was beating so fast he thought it might burst, and he wrapped his arms around Jun and pulled him closer. Jun’s skin was hot where they touched, and Wonwoo felt dizzy from every point of contact between them.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

“Please kiss me.” It was barely a whisper, but Jun nosed his way up his neck and finally, finally, brought their lips together.

Kissing Jun was easy, way too easy. Wonwoo didn’t have to think. It was like Jun knew what he wanted, exactly how to angle his head, how to slot their lips together, just when to slip his tongue inside. Wonwoo moaned and nipped at Jun’s bottom lip, and when Jun shivered against him arousal shot through him like a live wire.

“Of course you’d be good at this,” Wonwoo panted between them. Jun breathed out a laugh and bumped their foreheads together.

“I have had a lot of practice, but you make me feel something I have not felt in a long, long time.”

“And what’s that?”

“Nervous.”

Wonwoo’s heart fluttered in his chest. Jun was really something. Incredibly confident and sensual one moment, cute and endearing the next. It was kind of addicting.

“What do you want, _xiao yòu_? I am a man of my word, and I did say I would do anything you asked.”

Wonwoo’s hand slipped under his shirt and he traced the planes of his stomach. He wanted to open Jun up until he was writhing on the sheets, fuck into him for hours until they were both shaking for release. He wanted Jun to fuck his mouth, sink his cock down his throat until he couldn’t breathe, hold him there until he saw stars. He wanted Jun to ruin him, take him apart piece by piece until his whole world narrowed down to the man in his lap.

He wanted everything.

“I want all of you, Jun.”

Wonwoo’s hands slid up his back and Jun arched into the touch, let him pull his shirt over his head before looking at him with a devilish smile.

“Then you can have me. You can have me just like this.”

Wonwoo felt his cock straining against the front of his slacks. Jun was going to ride him. He bit his lip to hold in a moan as Jun unbuttoned his dress shirt.

When his shirt slid off his shoulders, Jun stared at him for such a long time he flushed down to his neck. He mouthed at Wonwoo’s collar bone, sucking a dark mark over the faded bite Seungcheol had left a few weeks ago.

“You are absolutely beautiful,” Jun murmured against his skin.

“Are you jealous?” he asked, groaning when Jun licked up his neck.

“Wonwoo,” he said, tone firm as he moved to stare into his eyes. Jun only seemed to call him by his name when it was something serious. “I told you in the beginning that I do not mind sharing you. If you want to be with Seungcheol, and he makes you happy, then you can be with him. You can be with me too, if that is what you want.”

Wonwoo brought their lips together and lost himself in the feeling before he remembered he should give Jun an answer.

“I want this, a lot. And even if it’s selfish, I want Seungcheol too.”

Jun smiled and gave him a quick peck. “The heart is a fickle thing, _xiao yòu_ , but it usually knows things the head will deny. I cannot speak for Seungcheol, but I have always preferred having many lovers to one.”

Wonwoo felt a tension ease out of him he hadn’t really noticed until it was gone. He kissed Jun urgently, ran his tongue against his fangs and moved his hands up his back. Jun rolled his hips down, moaning as Wonwoo’s cock brushed against him. Wonwoo let his hands inch lower until he was gripping Jun’s thighs hard enough to bruise. He broke their kiss long enough to pant out, “I wanna finger you.”

Jun moaned and rolled his hips again before he leaned across the bed to grab lube out from under the pillow, grinning wide enough to flash his fangs.

“Did you think I would not be prepared?”

Wonwoo didn’t respond, just buried his face in Jun’s neck and slid his hands up the curve of his ass.

“I need these off,” he murmured, grazing his teeth against Jun’s skin and feeling a bit proud when he shivered.

He moved off the bed way too gracefully and made a show of sliding his pants slowly down his hips. He watched Wonwoo with dark eyes as he stared at every newly bared inch of Jun’s body. By the time he tossed his pants carelessly to the floor, Wonwoo’s erection was an obvious tent in his slacks. Jun’s tongue ran quickly over his bottom lip.

“You too, _xiao yòu_. I want to see all of you.”

Wonwoo didn’t try to make it sexy (he couldn’t compete with Jun even if he tried). He lifted his hips just enough to slide his pants down his body and then moved to sit in front of the headboard, right where Jun wanted him.

Jun still watched him hungrily, like his mere existence was erotic. He crawled forward, slinking across the bed like he was dancing, until he was back in Wonwoo’s lap, his dick throbbing between them. Jun licked teasingly at his neck and took both of their erections in his hand. Wonwoo moaned at the touch, his head falling back against the headboard. He let Jun have his way for a bit, giving himself over to the hazy pleasure of Jun’s mouth of his neck and hand stroking lazily over his cock.

He bucked into Jun’s hand once before he uncapped the lube, adding an obscene amount to his fingers and tapping Jun’s thigh lightly. Jun spread his legs wider and brought their lips together in a messy kiss as he rubbed teasingly at his entrance. Jun sighed when he finally pushed his finger inside.

Wonwoo groaned as Jun’s finger rubbed across his slit, spreading precum that beaded there, and he pulled out just to add a second finger, just to see if Jun could take it. Jun moaned hot between their mouths and his tongue slid inside Wonwoo like he was fucking him back.

Wonwoo tried to be patient, tried to concentrate on Jun’s body slowly relaxing into him, but everything about the vampire was a distraction. His mouth, his hands, the way he kept thrusting back onto his fingers just enough to drive him crazy. He felt like he was on fire, and when he slipped a third finger inside Jun threw his head back and moaned so loud he knew everyone on the entire floor knew what they were doing.

He tried to angle his fingers better, tried to find that spot inside him, but Jun gripped the base of his dick and bumped their noses together.

“ _Xiao yòu_ , I want to feel you inside of me.”

Wonwoo groaned and thrust one more time, as deep as he could, and Jun’s spine straightened and his mouth opened in a silent scream.

Bingo.

He pulled out and wiped his fingers on the sheets. Jun was breathing hard, his chest flushed pink and shiny with sweat. He was ethereal. He slicked up Wonwoo’s cock almost reverently before pushing him back so that he supported his weight on his hands. He looked down and lined himself up with Wonwoo’s dick before slowly sinking down.

Being inside of Jun was like nothing he had ever felt. It was like his body had been craving Jun this whole time, and he’d never known he was aching for him until he finally had him. He slid down slowly, not stopping until he’d taken all of him. Wonwoo’s breaths were gasps, his eyes roaming the beautiful man on top of him. Jun locked eyes with him and leaned forward to grip his shoulders before kissing him open mouthed and hot.

He barely gave himself time to adjust before he started a slow rhythm. The way Jun opened up for him made his eyes flutter shut.

After a few minutes, Jun whined against his neck, grinding his hips down to get Wonwoo as deep as he could go.

Wonwoo shifted and grabbed Jun’s hips with his hands, squeezing him hard.

“I didn’t think you’d be this impatient.”

Jun moaned at the touch, and Wonwoo slid his hand lower to stroke over Jun’s neglected cock.

“I want you to fuck me,” he said finally, rocking down on his cock and thrusting into his hand. Wonwoo couldn’t hide his smirk.

“Your wish is my command, Master Junhui.”

The sound he made was desperate, and he whined when Wonwoo let go of his cock to grip his waist and thrust up into him. Jun’s mouth opened, a moan cracking in and out of sound.

“Please, Wonwoo, like that.”

Wonwoo thrust up into him and Jun buried his face in his neck, panting out little moans in time with his thrusts. Jun moved his legs to wrap around his waist, urging him deeper, but the angle wasn’t quite right.

Wonwoo sighed and finally gave up, falling on his side and taking Jun with him. He pulled out and Jun looked like he would cry at the loss, but he wasted no time pushing Jun onto his back and sinking into him again. Jun wrapped a leg around his waist and tightened his hand in the sheets.

Jun was a beautiful mess beneath him, his back arching off the bed whenever Wonwoo thrust hard and deep into him. His cock throbbed in time with his thrusts, flushed and shiny with precum. Every sound Jun made filled Wonwoo with white hot arousal, until his orgasm was so close he had to stop for a moment to calm himself down.

Jun smirked up at him, rolling his hips just enough that Wonwoo had to squeeze his hip to keep from coming.

“You are too perfect, _xiao yòu_. I want to taste you while you fuck me. Will you let me?”

Wonwoo shuddered. He pretended to think about it while he stroked over Jun’s cock, rutting into him until his breaths came faster and he put his hand out to stop him.

“Please let me drink from you. I want to feel you inside of me in every way,” he moaned out. He looked up at Wonwoo through his lashes and he felt another wave of arousal flow over him. God, Jun was going to be the death of him.

“Not on the neck. I have to be able to cover it at work.”

Jun grinned and brought their tangled hands to his mouth.

“You smell so good. I bet you taste like honey.”

Jun licked over his wrist, a long slow motion that made Wonwoo groan and thrust helplessly into him. He fucked into Jun at a quick pace, his orgasm still close but not threatening to crash through him like it had been earlier.

Jun nipped teasingly at his wrist and he thrust viciously into him just to watch him arch off the bed in pleasure. He mouthed at Wonwoo’s wrist until he was grazing Jun’s prostate with every thrust, and between moans Jun finally bit down.

It wasn’t like when Seungcheol bit him. That felt like a mini orgasm, the pleasure immediate and hot in his body like a drug. Jun’s bite was like whiskey, pleasure coursing slow and warm through him until it hit him all at once. He sped up even as his hips faltered, his own release so, so close. Jun’s eyes fluttered shut in pleasure, each lick over Wonwoo’s wrist making him breathe hard through his nose.

They came at almost the same time. Jun gave no warning, just bit down on his wrist again and arched off the bed, his come shooting hot across his chest and stomach. The pain in his wrist and Jun tightening around him was all it took, and he came with a shout inside him, his vision like TV static.

Jun gave his wrist a final lick and let his hand drop to the mattress, sighing as Wonwoo stilled inside of him.

He rested his weight on his hands, hovering over Jun, and let his breathing return to something like normal.

“I’m sorry,” Wonwoo finally said, face flushing, “I didn’t ask, and now you’re going to be messy.”

Jun laughed and it sent a jolt through his dick, still sensitive. He gripped the sheets and fought the urge to fuck into him again.

“ _Xiao yòu_ , is sex even good if it is not messy?”

Wonwoo smiled and kissed him, his own blood metallic on his lips, and he pulled out. He moved to get some towels from the bathroom, but Jun pulled him down and snuggled into his back. Wonwoo groaned.

“You’re getting me all sticky.”  


He could hear Jun’s coy smile. “It’s fine. I have a very big shower.”

He sighed but let Jun have his way. It seemed like a pattern, but he didn’t mind. He’d get Jun back by making him wash his hair.

 

 

An hour later they were both clean, the bed covered in fresh sheets courtesy of Jun’s title and a call to the front desk, and both of them were in clean pajamas. Jun had shoved some clothes from his suitcase into Wonwoo’s chest. “They should fit you,” he said with a grin, “You are almost as tall as me.”

Wonwoo pushed at his shoulder and changed into the ridiculously expensive loungewear anyway.

They were back on the bed, Jun curled up against him like a content cat. Wonwoo pulled him closer and buried his face in the side of his neck.

“I never asked you, but what does that mean?”

“What does what mean?”

“You always call me _xiao yòu_. Why?”

Jun laughed softly and tugged Wonwoo’s hand higher until it rested against his heart.

“It means ‘little woo'. The _yòu_ is from your name. I hope you do not take offense to it. You are very cute, and you _are_ younger than me.”

Wonwoo groaned. “You vampires are so obsessed with your age. It’s ridiculous. Aren’t you the same age as me?”

Jun’s heart beat once under Wonwoo’s hand, like a reminder of how different they were.

“So you like to think of me as twenty three instead of almost half a century. But what will you do next year? Will you want me to treat you like an elder?”

Wonwoo huffed and squeezed Jun tighter. “Okay, okay. I get it. You can call me whatever you want, and I’ll let you vampires lord your decades of immortality over me.”

Jun turned so they were face to face, and he pressed their bodies close as he kissed him. Wonwoo sighed into it, and his tiredness hit him all at once. He had to break their kiss to yawn into his hand, and he flushed with embarrassment while Jun laughed at him.

“Sleep, _xiao yòu_. I will stay with you until I have to get ready for the journey home.”

“Are you just going to watch me sleep? That’s a little creepy.”

Jun smirked. “I am quite fond of you, my animator, but I do have a lot of work I can get done from my phone. I can work and you can sleep, and I will only watch you a little bit. I promise.”

Wonwoo sighed and Jun smiled, leaning in to give him another quick kiss. He rolled over onto his back and grabbed his cell phone off the bedside table. Wonwoo curled into his side, his head pillowed on Jun’s chest. Jun made sure to breathe slowly and evenly, and that combined with the soft, sporadic beating of his heart lulled him to sleep.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's lycanthrope time :D

Wonwoo was assigned to watch Chan as soon as he walked into his hotel room. It was already 3pm, later than he meant to sleep, but to be fair he’d been awake most of the night. The vampires were tucked away in their coffins and Minghao had to get Jun’s luggage into the limo before they could leave.

“He’s been fine. I even managed to sleep a few hours this morning,” Minghao said with a small smile before heading across the hall to get to work. Wonwoo was grateful Minghao hadn’t said anything about last night. He wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed or anything, he just didn’t want to talk about it.

Wonwoo turned his attention to Chan, still asleep on the bed, sheets thrown half off his body. He really did seem better, so much so that Wonwoo really wondered if something had been done to him yesterday. He’d have to ask Joshua about it later.

Wonwoo sat on the bed and shook his shoulder gently.

“Chan. We have to go now. Wake up.”

Chan groaned and pulled the sheets over his head, mumbling incoherently.

Wonwoo sighed. “Listen, kid. This won’t work on me. Please get up before I drag you out of bed.”

He shook Chan harder, and he swatted at his hand blindly, rolling onto his side with his back to Wonwoo. He finally cracked his eyes open and sat up in a rush.

“I’m up, I’m up,” he mumbled, kicking the sheets off in a huff. Wonwoo wasn’t exactly a morning person, but this was on another level. Was Chan always like this or was it because of the full moon? It was probably a question that he’d never get an answer to.

Chan stumbled out of bed and threw on the first clothes his hands landed on, which were thankfully his own. He managed to look awake by the time Minghao walked back into the room, his own suitcase in hand.

“Let’s go. We only have a few hours before sunset, and people _will_ come for us if we’re still here.”

Wonwoo grabbed his bag and followed behind the two to the car. Minghao tapped at the partition, and they were off.

The rode in silence, Wonwoo flipping open his book and settling in while Chan scrolled through his phone. Minghao pulled out his laptop and typed away, handling something important if the fierce clicks to the keyboard were any indication.

By the time they got to the Coalition, the sun was just setting. Chan’s face was pained as the last rays of light dipped below the horizon, little whines escaping him, and Minghao turned panicked eyes to Wonwoo.

“Get him inside, and be quick about it. I’ll handle the vampires.”

Wonwoo ushered Chan out of the car, and just as he stepped out Minghao grabbed his wrist tight.

“Be careful, Wonwoo. Get out of there as soon as you can. The first shift can be dangerous, so let your friend handle it.”

Wonwoo nodded and Minghao let go and slammed the door shut. The car drove off smoothly, and Wonwoo turned to Chan and pulled him inside, doing his best to ignore how warm and shaky the boy was.

Joshua was waiting for them. The Coalition usually looked like a lecture hall, long tables and chairs filling much of the room, but everything had been cleared away except the chairs currently occupied by Jeonghan and Joshua. The large empty space made Wonwoo uneasy, and as he looked to Joshua the wereleopard smiled gently.

“You must be Chan. I’m Joshua,” he said. He walked toward them and laid a hand on Chan’s shoulder. “Everything is going to be fine. You’re safe here.”

Jeonghan’s face was unreadable, and he sniffed the air a little before walking toward them.

“You’re a wolf?”

Chan turned to regard him, and the pained expression seemed to disappear from his face.

“That’s what the alpha told me. I don’t remember much about the attack, and the doctor told me that I got lycanthrope but not what kind.”

Jeonghan smiled and squeezed his other shoulder.

“You smell like a wolf. I’m Jeonghan, and I’m a part of the pack here. Joshua and I are going to make sure you’re alright tonight.”

Chan sighed with something like relief, and Wonwoo took a step back from them. He felt like an outsider sneaking in to see the rituals of some secret society, like he wasn’t supposed to see whatever was happening.

Wonwoo had only seen Joshua shift once. Well, he hadn’t actually _seen_ the change, just the final result. Joshua liked to keep that part of his life private and Wonwoo didn’t mind. He usually stayed at the library during the full moon, pulling an almost all-nighter, and by the time he got home Joshua was passed out in his bed.

He forgot once, left his laptop on his desk in the dorm and did the best he could with just his textbook, but around 3am he couldn’t do it anymore. He walked into their dorm to find a full grown leopard on Joshua’s bed. He was so startled he slammed his back against the door, shutting it with a bang and making the leopard glance lazily in his direction.

The leopard was beautiful, golden eyes and large blotches of black instead of little spots. It took the leopard turning away in almost human annoyance for Wonwoo to remember his roommate was a lycanthrope.

“Joshua?” he breathed out.

The leopard made a sound almost like a purr, still facing away. At least a wild leopard hadn’t broken into his room. He grabbed his laptop off the desk and practically ran back to the library. When he returned a few hours later there was just Joshua, tangled in the sheets, shirtless because he got too hot at the full moon. They hadn’t talked about it, but Joshua didn’t give him the silent treatment for it which was really all he could ask from the experience.

And now, faced with the reality of their impending shift, Wonwoo wasn’t sure he wanted to see the full process.

“Will it hurt?” Chan asked, his voice strained. He wasn’t shaky anymore, but he was tucked into Jeonghan’s side like the wolf brought him comfort, and maybe he did.

“Well, I think it’s different for everyone,” Jeonghan began, “It’s the most uncomfortable the first time, but it gets easier. For me, it’s like taking off clothes that are too tight. It can be hard to get them off at first, but then you feel much better. And once you have a few full moons under your belt, you’ll be able to control when you shift, at least to some degree.”

“I just don’t like how messy it is,” Joshua said, wrinkling his nose in a distinctly feline way. It almost made Wonwoo laugh out loud.

“This is what Joshua does for a living,” Wonwoo said, and Chan turned to him like he forgot he was there, “He helps people through their first full moon and teaches them all the important things they need to know about being a lycanthrope. He’ll make sure no one hurts you tonight.”

He let the rest of that thought hang unspoken between them all, and Chan nodded a little dazedly.

Wonwoo didn’t say that the first full moon was dangerous because lycanthropes didn’t have control yet, because they hunted indiscriminately and could hurt any human they crossed paths with if they were alone. The truth was tonight was more about keeping Chan from hurting anyone. Joshua’s work, especially with new lycanthropes, was part of why human perception of lycanthropes improved every day. He was making attacks less frequent just by keeping new lycanthropes away from humans.

“Joshua, you go first. I can stay with Chan. We don’t know how he’ll react to a different lycanthrope once he shifts,” Jeonghan said softly, taking his hand off Chan to run it down Joshua’s arm affectionately.

Joshua sighed. “I always take that risk Jeonghan. It’s just part of the job.  I’ve been fine all this time.”

“But I’m here tonight. Let me do this, just this once.”

Joshua stayed silent for a minute, looking between Jeonghan’s sure face and Chan’s wide eyes. He sighed again.

“I’m trusting you Jeonghan. Please keep him safe.”

Jeonghan smiled, and the love behind it made Wonwoo feel like he was intruding again.

“It’s going to be fine. Go run and come back, and if it’ll make you feel better we can switch out.”

Joshua smiled softly at Chan as he walked toward the back of the hall. Wonwoo hadn’t noticed there was a door back there, and as far as he knew the back of the building was just an alley. Maybe the Coalition building had places not meant for humans.

“Wonwoo, if you don’t want to see now is a good time to leave,” he called out as he headed through the door.

He didn’t need to be told twice.

“I really can’t thank you enough,” Chan said, smiling cutely. Wonwoo refused to acknowledge that he thought it was cute at all.

He nodded instead of speaking and gave Jeonghan a wave as he headed back through the entrance.

He sighed as the door clicked shut behind him. How was he getting home? He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He sent a quick text to Seungcheol.

_Please come get me. I’m at the Coalition and I don’t want to get eaten._

Seungcheol replied back almost instantly with an exclamation point emoji, and he sat on the steps while he waited.

A noise came from inside the building, a weird mixture between a scream and a growl. Wonwoo ignored every part of him that told him to run and he walked toward the sound, peeking through the window to the side of the entrance.

He saw a large gray wolf loping around the room, like he wasn’t sure what he should be doing. Clothes were torn to shreds all around him, and for a second Wonwoo’s panicked mind told him Jeonghan had eaten Chan. He saw a neatly folded pile of clothes on the floor, and just as his heart stopped racing a white wolf walked into view, bumping his head against the other wolf gently.

He knew it was Jeonghan because of course he would be just as pretty in wolf form. Jeonghan turned bright silver eyes on him, walking forward a little menacingly, and Wonwoo backed away from the window like he’d been burned. He got the point. Chan hadn’t noticed him yet, but that didn’t mean he should wait around until he did.

The short blast of a car horn almost made him crumple to the ground in fear, and he glared at Seungcheol who flashed him a mischievous grin. Wonwoo spared one last glance at the wolves before sliding quickly into Seungcheol’s car.

“You dick. I almost had a heart attack.”

Seungcheol just laughed. “You shouldn’t be spying on them. You’re lucky that kid didn’t smell you. Even a lycanthrope fully in control would have trouble stopping him once he set his sights on you.”

Jeonghan’s cold silver eyes lingered in his mind, and he wondered what Jeonghan had done to become second to the alpha, if he wanted to know at all.

“Jeonghan kind of drove the point home. Thanks for not letting me get eaten.”

Seungcheol raised his eyebrows.

“I guess Jeonghan really is serious about your friend. He always hated sitting with the new wolves. Or maybe he’s getting soft.”

“You sure know a lot about him, and about the wolves. Does it have something to do with the favor you owe him?”

Seungcheol took one of his hands off the wheel to lace their fingers together.

“Someday I’ll tell you about it. Knowing Jeonghan, he’s going to ask me for a lot more than I asked of him, so you’ll have to make sure he doesn’t screw me over when the time comes.”

Wonwoo kissed the back of Seungcheol’s hand. He tried to ignore the warmth spreading through his chest, but Seungcheol was insistent, so he could only sulk for so long before allowing the feeling to wash over him. They drove the rest of the way in silence, and it wasn’t until Wonwoo took his shirt off and slid into bed that Seungcheol spoke again.

“Can I put one on the other side?” he asked, moving to lay top of him. 

He eyed Wonwoo’s wrist hungrily. Shit. He forgot about the bite.

Wonwoo gazed up at him and nodded, arching up with a gasp when Seungcheol’s teeth grazed against his unmarked skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for reading I really love and appreciate you all so sosoooooo much!!!! There's just one chapter to go I can't believe it ;~;


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank each and every one of you for sticking with me through this story. I’m really so, so grateful to all of you for giving me and this fic a chance!! 
> 
> I wrote the ending in true Anita Blake style!
> 
> A sort of Epilogue, if you will.

 

The first day Wonwoo went back to work Seungkwan cried and hugged him so hard he felt like he cracked a rib.

“I almost broke up with Vernon after what happened to you,” he sniffled into Wonwoo’s shoulder, “I’m so glad that you’re all better now.”

Wonwoo let the words process before he pulled Seungkwan away from him, eyes wide.

“You’re dating Vernon?”

Seungkwan smiled a little sheepishly. “I thought everyone knew about it.”

Wonwoo felt like his world tilted just a bit, but a lot of things that seemed strange before suddenly made a lot more sense.

 

\--

 

 

Seokmin beat himself up for a month over Younghee’s case. It had officially been called cold, much to the shock of the citizens and media. Wonwoo only felt a little guilty about not telling him the truth, but he really didn’t have a choice. His life was in preternatural hands now. Seokmin might be a cop, but when it was all said and done he was just a human. He knew that Seokmin was too straight-laced to keep it a secret, his tie to the vampires or the fact that he’d killed the man they were looking for. They had worked a few more cases since then, but things seemed different between them, like Seokmin could tell Wonwoo knew more than he was letting on. The tiny seed of mistrust hadn’t affected their work yet, but Wonwoo wasn’t sure how long it would last.

 

 

\--

 

Wonwoo started going to the shooting range with Jihoon, which shocked Vernon more than anyone else. “I want to be prepared for anything,” he’d told Vernon, who nodded gravely and gave the ok without much fight. He was a few months shy of his one year anyway, so speeding up the process didn’t matter much.

Jihoon was a good teacher and he actually enjoyed the company. Wonwoo threw up in the dirt the first time he held a gun again, but after that it got easier. He could almost hit the center ring without looking, but Jihoon frowned on him using his power to aim.

“You can’t rely on anything but yourself, Wonwoo,” he’d said with a frown.

Wonwoo just sighed and aimed down the range again, the gun feeling almost at home in his hand.

 

 

\--

 

 

Mingyu had raised two people successfully since the Younghee case. He really did have a wealth of psychic power, so much that Wonwoo wondered if Mingyu could also be a necromancer. But then Mingyu would trip and erase his salt circle and unbind the zombie, and Wonwoo would just roll his eyes and flick his blood across the zombie’s face before it could rampage blindly through the cemetery. Wonwoo was stronger these days, from necromancy or Seungcheol, which was part of why he let Mingyu handle more cases. Mingyu was doing better, but he had a long way to go.

 

 

\--

 

 

He started practicing martial arts with Minghao, who suggested it to him one day when he’d gone to Jun’s office to finally hand in his employee paperwork.

“I’m getting rusty, and you can’t rely solely on a gun to keep you safe,” he’d said, and Wonwoo sighed but agreed.

He spent the first week sore from head to toe, but after a few weeks of practicing he landed a kick to Minghao that actually knocked him down. It made him feel strong, and Minghao had jumped up and gave him an enthusiastic high five.

“Do it again,” he’d said, and Wonwoo groaned.

         

 

\--

 

 

Joshua and Jeonghan had taken in Chan, and it was so domestic it made Wonwoo gag. They doted on him like he was ten instead of twenty, and as much as Chan complained when they babied him, he kind of liked it too. Jeonghan was ranked high enough in his pack that Chan assimilated with no problem, and Wonwoo was glad that no questions were asked about where he came from. He didn’t know who Jun had appointed to keep watch over him, and he was glad to be in the dark for once. He didn’t know what kind of relationship Jun had with the lycanthropes, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to know yet.

 

 

\--

 

 

Things were going smoothly with Seungcheol. They could spend as much or as little time as they wanted together, their bond easier to navigate after a few months. It was kind of nice that he could stretch his power down the thread between them and check in on him, and that Seungcheol could do the same.

They still didn’t have an answer for _why_ their bond had come about in the first place. Wonwoo’s teacher thought it was the result of his necromancy awakening, that Seungcheol was the first thing his power sensed and so that was where it went. Seungcheol kept saying it was fate, that they were destined to meet, like soul mates. It made Wonwoo’s heart flutter in a way he wasn’t ready to accept. Jihoon said it was _metaphysical bullshit_ , that sometimes magic just happened and there wasn’t an explanation for it. Wonwoo didn’t really care about the why. The two still weren’t officially dating, but neither of them felt any pressure to put a name on their relationship.

 

 

\--

 

 

Jun had called him one night and asked him for a date once a week. Wonwoo didn’t like to call it a date, but it made Jun happy. It was nice to have one night dedicated to just them, so he couldn’t really be upset about it. He kept vampire politics away from their time together, and Wonwoo was definitely grateful. The less he knew about how things were going with JR, the better. They stayed in Jun’s apartment, but they always found something fun to do. Once, Jun tried to cook him a Chinese dish from his hometown, but he’d done such a poor job Minghao had to toss the entire pot in the trash and order takeout before disappearing from their sight like he hadn’t been there at all.

Seungcheol liked to tease him about the dates, and Wonwoo would kick at his leg and threaten to tell Jun that he was being mean.

“You can’t use that against me,” Seungcheol had said with a dramatic pout, “It’s not like I can tell your boss that you’re mean to me.”

 

 

\--

 

 

Wonwoo’s life was nothing like he’d ever imagined it, but it was somehow better. He had more friends than he’d ever had in his whole life, and only a few of them were human. He didn’t mind though. He had two people that he cared about very much, who cared just as much for him, that he someday might call his boyfriends…maybe.

 

When he was younger, his parents had made him feel like a monster, and there were many times in his life he thought they might be right.

Maybe he was a monster, but maybe it was better than being human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dear Necromancer's adventures are not done. I promise you that. Please anticipate!!!
> 
>  
> 
> It’s been so much fun seeing how you’re all reacting to this. I really do love and appreciate you all so soooo much!!
> 
> See you soon <33

**Author's Note:**

> [White Noise Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/dxfghibw2bty15xk9vwrsnyv8/playlist/0nHnQjN80h2JtogmtTQx9F?si=-wOzuJwgTlWD-_7ttYgbkQ)
> 
>  
> 
> [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/tsukkitaeil) //[Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/tsukkitaeil)


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